A Pair of Third Wheels
by Zoakdo
Summary: On the outside looking in: that's how Baljeet always felt around his friends.  But when he meets someone that feels the same way he does, he begins to learn that there is a way even he can get in.
1. A Reunion on a Hill

A Pair of Third Wheels

A Reunion on a Hill

Baljeet stared at the setting October sun, letting the evening sunlight bathe over him to wash his troubles away, down the hill, and into the river. Unfortunately, light particles seemed to be quite useless in regards for bathing. Sighing, the high school senior reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He lit up with his old lighter and began inhaling the smoke, using it to calm his nerves. Today marked what was perhaps the thousandth time he had set time aside to assist his friends that were all a grade below him in studying. Unfortunately for the young Indian, the four friends he helped were the two most famous couples in Danville High: Phineas and Isabella and Ferb and Gretchen. As the studying wore on, both couples became more, well, couple-like with Phineas and Isabella becoming almost incapable of separating and Ferb and Gretchen becoming completely lost in their own little world. Eventually, Baljeet had called it a night and left. He abandoned his books in his car at home and headed down to the park to smoke and try to relax.

Baljeet took another deep drag on the cigarette as he thought back on the past few years. When the entire group was younger, they had done crazy stunts every day. Over time, some of the members grew closer and began dating while others drifted away. Now, there were seven of them: Phineas, Isabella, Ferb, Gretchen, Buford, Milly, and himself. He didn't resent his friends at all nor did he feel like they should pity him, but sometimes it was hard being the only single person in a group. He had heard that Ginger liked him when they were younger, yet he doubted that she would break up with her girlfriend for someone that she didn't talk to anymore.

"Fuck it," he mumbled as he closed his eyes and began going over math formulas in his head between puffs of smoke. He wasn't bad looking at all, especially since Buford's exercise routine had given him a toned body. His parents still spoke their native language at home, keeping his accent strong even after years in America. Mix this with his dark skin and black hair that reached down to just below his eyes and he was something out of some girl's dream. His problem was he was too smart, often coming across as conceited or overbearing as well as many nerd tendencies. He had all but given up and was hoping for some change in college next year.

"Smoking kills," a female voice sounded above. No sooner did he hear these words than a large, furry mass landed on his stomach. Baljeet's eyes shot open as his cigarette fell from his mouth to see a hairy golden dog on top of him. The dog's tongue found its way to his face, disgusting Baljeet to new levels.

"Off!" he shouted, pushing the dog off of him. The dog initially resisted, but seemed to realize Baljeet didn't want to play and got off. He looked around to see none other than Adyson Sweetwater standing above him. She was holding a dog leash attached to Baljeet's attacker and seemed to be enjoying herself a bit too much for walking a dog.

"Did I mention the smell?" Adyson asked as her dog continued to jump around Baljeet.

"What are you talking about?" Baljeet asked in response, more than a little annoyed.

"Your cancer stick," she replied, pointing at the discarded cigarette.

"Oh," he muttered, looking away. He was a smoker, but he wasn't proud about that. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"We see each other every day in Calculus," she retorted, taking a seat next to him and letting go of the leash, allowing the dog to rush down the hill towards the river.

"I mean since we talked," Baljeet explained as he watched to dog play in the water.

"I guess," Adyson said, seemingly to herself as she pulled her legs in, wrapped her arms around them, and rested chin on top of them. Baljeet immediately felt like he had said something wrong. He stared at the usually confident girl that was capable of being the only junior in his AP Calculus class that now seemed vulnerable and depressed. He stared at her for several moments before he snapped himself back to reality and turned away from her.

"Sorry," Baljeet told her on reflex.

"For what?" Adyson answered, turning to face him. Baljeet couldn't say he had just been staring at her, so he desperately racked his brain for anything else he could talk about.

"What's the dog's name?" Baljeet asked, pointing towards the now happy mess of wet fur bounding around the river.

"Daisy, though I usually think fish would've been more appropriate," she answered. "She's four, but she spends more energy in a day than her mom spent in her life."

"You got a lot of dogs?" Baljeet asked, but Adyson shook her head.

"Just Daisy and her mom, Biscuit," she answered. "See, when Biscuit had her litter, she had five puppies but she wasn't producing enough milk. Since Daisy was the weakest of them, she wasn't able to get any. Instead, I had to bottle feed her. I'm pretty sure that's what led her to become so attached to me. When the time came to give the puppies away, I actually begged my mom to let me keep her. She said I could if I took care of her."

"And here you are," Baljeet finished for her.

"Here I am," Adyson mimicked, an almost motherly smile on her lips. "I'm almost certain she actually thinks I'm her mom instead of Biscuit. But enough about me, what about you? Do you have any pets?"

"If you count little brothers, than yes, though he might be messier than Daisy," he said, creating not just his own smile but getting a chuckle out of Adyson. He found himself enjoying her laughter, so he decided to roll with it. "Seriously, you wanna trade? I can get him here in ten minutes and we can switch 'em. I'll even let you keep the leash since you'll probably need it more."

"I'm good," Adyson replied between laughs. Baljeet found her soft laughter infectious as he let loose a few chuckles. When she settled down, she turned back to him. "Still, he can't be that bad."

"Well, he may be loud and obnoxious, but his friends are louder and obnoxiouser," he said, suddenly growing red when he realized that obnoxiouser wasn't a word. Adyson shook slightly with her suppressed laugh, but otherwise didn't pick on him. Baljeet thought she was laughing more at his reaction than to his language. "More obnoxious," he corrected himself slowly, "so I guess he's better by comparison."

"I know the feeling," Adyson replied. "Sometimes Daisy is such a handful, but when I see someone who has no idea how to handle their dog, Daisy seems like a perfect, obedient little dog."

"I hate to criticize," Baljeet interjected, "but I don't see how Daisy could ever be considered little."

"She is," Adyson objected. "Well," she mumbled after glancing at her dog, "she was."

"Emphasis on the was," Baljeet responded. An easy silence fell between them as they watch Daisy play in the water some more. The dog was like little kid, jumping and splashing like she didn't have a care in the world. Baljeet was honestly impressed that Daisy could still move like that with all her fur soaked. However, his eyes were drawn to Adyson. Her hair was longer than when she was ten, though she still kept a similar style with her hair sweeping down to cover her right eye. The rest was tied back into a sloppy ponytail. Her eyes looked so warm when she watched Daisy. The setting sun gave her a golden glow that mesmerized Baljeet. _Was she this pretty when we were younger? _he asked himself. In order to avoid being embarrassed further, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a cigarette. As he pulled it towards his mouth, a sharp pain stabbed at his hand, causing him to drop the cigarette. He looked up to see Adyson glaring at him with her hand held perfectly straight as if she just preformed a karate chop.

"Dammit," Baljeet grumbled as he held his hand.

"No smoking," Adyson explained as she stood up. "Daisy!" she called, causing the dog to immediately stop splashing and run up to her owner. When she stopped in front of them, Adyson jumped back a little bit. She was just in time to avoid the thousand water droplets that she shook from her coat. Unfortunately for Baljeet, he wasn't prepared for that. While the windbreaker he was wearing was waterproof, his pants, shoes, and hair were now much wetter than they had been a few moments ago.

"That's your punishment," she told him as she laughed at the Indian boy. He pulled himself up as he uselessly and quite ridiculously tried to brush the water off of him.

"'May he without sin cast the first stone,'" Baljeet grumbled to her.

"I'm a she, so it doesn't apply," she jokingly responded as she stuck out her tongue at him. As if in agreement, Daisy happily barked at Baljeet. Despite his annoyance, Baljeet couldn't help but smile at her and her dog. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed himself so thoroughly.

"Thanks," he said, stopping her laughs. She looked at the boy that had always been so serious when they were younger thanking her for soaking him. She stepped up to him and placed a hand on his forehead.

"Funny. You don't feel like you have a fever," she said, pretending to be serious. Baljeet looked down at her and caught her eye. For a moment, they stared into each other's' eyes before their heads moved slightly forward.

"Baljeet," she whispered so only he could hear. Baljeet felt his heart skip a beat at his name. "Your breath stinks."

"What!" Baljeet stuttered as he stepped back. Adyson laughed at him again as he turned red.

"It's because of those cigarettes. You really should quit," she explained as she picked up Daisy's leash. "I gotta get going."

"Adyson," he said when she began to walk away. She stopped and turned around, her eyes locked onto his. "Can we hang out again?" he asked, hoping his desperation wasn't showing.

"Hmm, I wonder," she said as she cocked her head to one side. She held that position for a few moments, making Baljeet feel infinitely pathetic for asking her. "Sure," she replied, a wide smile breaking across her face. With that, she turned and ran with Daisy at her side. Baljeet watched her run until she turned a corner and was obscured by trees. She was different than he remembered her. _Good different_ he told himself as he walked back towards his home. For once, he was actually feeling good about himself.

He liked it.

* * *

><p>Hey everyone, it's Zoakdo. Reviews would be greatly appreciated for this latest story as they help me grow as a writer. I would just like to say that I know it's a strange pairing, but trust me when I say I have my reasons. I hope you liked it and, if you didn't, tell me why. Also, a Public Service Announcement: I neither support nor disapprove of smoking, gambling, or any other vice that has been or will be mentioned in this story. I don't judge people that do or don't do the things mentioned. I am merely trying to make my characters realistic by giving them real problems. So please don't believe that I am encouraging people to smoke or that I am insulting those that do, but just understand these things do happen.<p> 


	2. Study Session

Study Session

"Aagh," came from more than one person that class. In fact, at least ten of the twenty-eight people in the AP Calculus class expressed the sentiment and close to as many had faces that showed that's how they were feeling. Baljeet was one of the few that lacked either of those as he glanced at the ninety-five at the top of his version of last Friday's test. He glanced through the test and looked over the mistakes he made, reminding himself to do some practice problems similar to them that night. At least he wouldn't need to take the makeup test Mr. Matthews always offered a week after the original in return for a completely corrected test.

As the sound of "oh"s and "dammit"s filled the room, he remembered last year when everyone in the class would rush to him for help whenever anything was given out. Now, in this hyper competitive environment, no one asked for help outside of a small group, usually only two or three people. Since most people wanted to surpass Baljeet, he was one of the groupless, not that he minded the change or the quiet.

"Baljeet…" someone sung in front of his desk. Looking up, he saw Adyson with her hands behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels. She had put on her best innocent face that included pouty lips.

"What do you need help with?" he sighed. Usually, people at least told him what they wanted before they resorted to the pleading techniques.

"All of it," she answered, stretching out the words with the same singsong style.

"Alright, let me see how you did," he responded. Adyson happily dropped to her knees next to his desk as she placed her test on top of his. The red twenty-seven on hers showed the vast discrepancy between their skill levels in the subject.

"What's the base equation we've been using for this chapter?" he asked, praying he got the right answer.

"F of a plus h over h," she replied, much to Baljeet's visible disappointment. "That's… not right, is it?" she asked slowly, as if each word was a step in a minefield. Baljeet's simple head shake was enough of an answer. Without a word, he picked up her test and began looking over each of the four pages.

"I hope you're not busy tonight," he told her.

"Why?"

"You need to study," he told her as he handed back her test. "A lot," he added.

"That's fantastic," she grumbled to herself as she looked over the problems again. "At least I know I'll have such a great tutor coming over to help me."

"Oh no I-"

"It's so sweet of you to offer," she said with a smile that not only thanked him for something he had yet to agree to, but also threatened him with a severe punishment should he not assist her. She picked up his pencil and scribbled something on the top of his test.

"But-"

"See you at four," she said with another smile as she got back up and returned to her desk. He glanced down at the page to see both an address and a phone number listed as well as a smiley face sticking its tongue at him.

"Cute," he mumbled to himself as he went back to thinking. It looks like he would be busy tonight. Granted, the only other thing he would've been doing was studying, but still.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Hey nerd," Buford called to his friend moments before he placed him in a playful headlock. "Ya wanna hang out today? We got that Ecology project to work on plus that French test comin' up."

"Sorry Buford," Baljeet said as he wiggled out of his best friend's arm. "I'm busy tonight."

"C'mon Jeet," Buford nagged. "Might as well get this done now. I'll even get Milly to make us some grub," Buford told him, signaling to his girlfriend behind him that Baljeet hadn't noticed.

"As long as you don't call it 'grub' once I make it," Milly scolded. Buford immediately froze as he noticed the ice cold look in her eyes.

"Milly, you know I didn't mean it like that," he said, sounding more desperate than Baljeet had ever heard him before.

"If you want 'grub,' I hear Slushie Dawg is open until midnight. That should give you more than enough time to stuff your face with the crap they call food," she told him as she stormed off. Baljeet couldn't help but smile at the entire exchange. Milly was usually such a sweetheart, but that changed as soon as someone insulted her cooking. If they did, lord knows what would happen. What Buford was getting was light treatment for a minor offense.

"Damn," Buford grumbled as he watched Milly walk away. He knew she would meet up with him at his old pickup soon, but right now he needed to give her some space. Dejected, he turned to Baljeet. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Don't be. It was quite amusing," Baljeet told him. "But still Buford, I'm helping someone else study tonight."

"Phineas or Ferb?"

"Adyson Sweetwater."

"Sweet Ass Addie? Dude, you scored," Buford said as he mentioned the name the other football players used to talk about Adyson in the locker room.

"Milly," Baljeet said, pointing directly behind Buford. The football star spun around so fast his legs got tangled and he fell to the ground. Much to Buford's relief and Baljeet's amusement, Milly was nowhere in sight.

"Screw you," Buford half joked when he pulled himself up.

"Seriously, I'm helping her with calculus tonight. Maybe tomorrow," the Indian boy explained as he left. The former bully watched his former victim go off and wondered what had happened between him and Adyson.

Baljeet put his backpack in the backseat and started up the car he had spent all of last summer working in order to buy. It might have been hard, but he probably had one of the nicest cars among the students. He was just about to start backing up when he heard a tapping at his passenger side window. He turned his head to see Adyson opening the door and climbing into his car.

"Hey," she greeted him as she put on the seatbelt. "Ew, it smells like smoke in here."

"May I know what you're doing?" he asked her, using all of his self-control to try to sound civil.

"I figured it was kinda pointless for you to head home for an hour and then come to my place, so I decided we should go straight to my place and start studying," she explained.

"Didn't you consider asking me first?" Baljeet asked again, his peaceful façade slipping.

"Yeah, but I couldn't find you. I figured I'd just meet you at your car and explain it to you there."

"Wow," Baljeet breathed. He was about to tell her to get out when he looked up to see the buses beginning to pull away. Now, if he left her here, she would have no way home. _Perfect_, he groaned in his head as he steered his car out of the school parking lot and onto the street. _I'm not just her tutor, but also her chauffeur_.

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Daisy was sitting in front of the door when Adyson opened it. "Who's a good girl?" Adyson said as she dropped to a crouch to pet the dog. Daisy looked happy, but then jumped to the side and began barking incessantly at Baljeet. "Oh, you remember Baljeet," she said as she tried to calm down the dog.

"Yeah, you gave me a shower," Baljeet said as he stuck out his hand for Daisy to smell. This, along with Adyson's pets, worked to calm her down.

"And you'll give him another one if he misbehaves, won't you?" she happily told Daisy who responded with what seemed to be a happy bark.

"Shall we get started?" Baljeet asked, ripping Adyson's attention from her dog. Sighing in defeat, she led him into her kitchen. There, they deposited their backpacks on the table while Adyson begrudgingly pulled out the failed test and laid it on the table. Baljeet dropped the calculus book on top of it.

"What's that for?"

"Before we can correct your test, we need to review the chapter," he explained as he pulled out many sheets of lined paper.

"Guess you don't do anything halfway, do you?" she asked. Over the next two hours, she got her answer as Baljeet retaught her everything in the chapter. Not only that, but he gave her countless problems to work out, each illustrating the concept they were designed to teach perfectly. As the clock read five forty-five, Adyson slammed her head onto the table while handing yet another sheet to Baljeet. When he took the sheet, the hand also fell to the table.

"All correct," Baljeet told her as he quickly corrected all of his custom problems in his head.

"Ugh," Adyson replied.

"It looks like you understand the material a lot better now."

"Ugh," she said again, this time drawing it out much more than before. Before Baljeet could say anything else, his phone went off.

"I need to take this," he told her, receiving the same response as before. He stepped aside and opened the phone. "Hello."

"Hey 'Jeet," Phineas told him. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over and hang out for a while."

"Phineas, we have school tomorrow," Baljeet replied.

"I know. It would just be for a few hours. Milly and Buford came over a little while ago and now Milly is making a feast."

"Sorry, I'm helping Adyson study for calculus." No sooner had Baljeet said these words did a groan erupt from the kitchen.

"Sweetwater?" Phineas asked, more than a little surprised. "Well, good luck with that. If you're done before seven, feel free to drop on by."

"Will do," Baljeet told him as he flipped the phone shut. He walked back into the kitchen to see Adyson in the same position as before. He sat down where he had been sitting and just looked at her. After a minute of this, Adyson pulled her head up and glared at him. She fell back down and adjusted her arms so she could rest better.

"Suit yourself," he said, turning away and pulling something out of his pocket. When Adyson heard the sound of the lighter flaring up, she snapped up, ready to knock the cigarette out of his mouth. Much to her surprise, Baljeet just had the lighter out and a smug look on his face.

"Now that you're up, we can work some more," he said happily. Adyson sighed and let Baljeet continue to beat everything about the subject into her head.

"Enough," Adyson finally groaned a couple hours later. She had finally reached her limit. Other than a few breaks for drinks, the bathroom, and letting her dogs out, Adyson had been working nonstop. "I thought I've worked hard before, but that was just painful," she complained. "What's the point of knowing this?"

"None, actually," Baljeet responded as he began placing his supplies back into his backpack. Adyson looked at him with a face somewhere between disgust, astonishment, and plain anger. "This stuff is the basics. In the next chapter, we'll learn rules that let us completely bypass this."

"Then why do I have to know any of this shit?" she almost cried.

"It's so we understand where the rules come from. Not to mention, if you can do it the hard way, the simple way will be that much easier."

"It's official; a sadist design calculus," she said, pulling herself up and stretching her legs.

"Well, Newton did have more than his share of quirks, though I don't know if sadism is among them," Baljeet explained. Adyson didn't seem even slightly amused.

"Anyway, thanks a bunch for all of this Baljeet. I shouldn't have any problem with the retest after this," she said, though her gratefulness seemed slightly overshadowed by her annoyance.

"Shouldn't your parents be home by now?" Baljeet asked, glancing at the clock.

"My mom had to work late tonight," Adyson answered.

"What about your dad?"

"My parents got divorced four years ago. My dad doesn't live here," she explained, not showing even the slightest hint of anger or sadness that Isabella had when she had to mention her split family.

"I'm s-"

"Don't apologize," Adyson interrupted, now clearly annoyed with the boy. "You didn't know him, you don't know the circumstances, and you certainly didn't do anything to cause it."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear anything else," she growled at him as she stood up. "Goodbye."

"See you tomorrow," Baljeet responded, dejected and quiet. When she didn't even look at him, he turned and left. When he reached his car, he felt worse than he had in a long time. He drove home and into the worried looks of his parents he had forgot to inform about studying with Adyson. He didn't really listen to what they had to say; he was too busy worrying about what he had said. Once everything calmed down, he ate his dinner in a daze and then sulked back to his room where he collapsed on his bed. He couldn't even find the energy to light up a cigarette and instead just laid there until he drifted off into sleep.


	3. The First and Third

The First and Third

"Earth to Baljeet!" Phineas called, snapping Baljeet back to reality. He looked up at Phineas, Isabella, Ferb, and Gretchen all sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria.

"Are you okay?" Isabella asked.

"You've been spacy all week," Gretchen said. Ferb, while silent, expressed his feelings with a concerned look.

"I've been tired," he replied, not able to tell them how he was worried since he had offended Adyson. He couldn't help but beat himself up mentally for what he had said. How could he have been insensitive? He may not be particularly good with girls, but he was never this bad. It was driving him crazy. He needed to apologize. She was a fun person but he had ruined any chance he had at becoming friends with her. If he didn't apologize soon-

"Baljeet!" Phineas barked, once again forcibly dragging the boy out of his delusions and back to lunch with his friends.

"Sorry," he replied.

"Maybe you should leave early," Isabella commented, genuinely worried for the boy.

"I'll be fine," he responded. He only had three classes after lunch and AP Calculus wasn't one of them.

"Take it easy this weekend. It won't do us any good if you get burned out," Phineas said. Baljeet nodded and returned to his lunch. Phineas, Isabella, and Gretchen were all discussing their most recent paper in English class with Ferb occasionally adding a few words to the conversation. Baljeet listened to them and remembered when he had to do the same paper last year. He desperately wished that his only friend in the senior class had lunch at the same time as him, but he and Milly had it next hour.

Baljeet remained mostly quiet for the rest of lunch as he ate and occasionally answered a question posed by one of the other four. When it was time to leave, he left as quickly as possible without being rude. He was similarly distant for the rest of his classes, mechanically taking notes and answering questions. Buford tried to approach him, but Baljeet had learned how to avoid him when he wanted to. When the final bell rang, Baljeet was one of the first people out the door. As he drove home, he asked himself one question over and over: _Why do I care?_

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"You're so hopeless!" Adyson heard from the receiver she was holding a foot away from her ear. "I swear, this is why you'll never get a boyfriend!"

"Real supportive Holly," Adyson half-heartedly complained. Adyson was about to make a retort about how at least she had taste, but knew Holly had already received more than enough shit over her choice not only to date, but to be the one that asked out Irving.

"If you feel guilty, go apologize," Holly said slowly, treating each syllable as a separate word.

"It's not that simple," Adyson objected, though it was clear was she was having trouble convincing herself of that.

"It is. You just need to swallow that goddamn pride you could fill a blimp with and say 'I'm sorry, Baljeet.'"

"I bet he doesn't want anything to do with someone who would overreact to something like that."

"Because the boy that could tolerate Buford's bullying daily for years is a complete stranger to fucked-up behavior," Holly mocked. "Seriously, you're spouting bullshit now. You just can't do anything that would put a speck a dust on your ego."

"Eh," Adyson said, stunned. She knew Holly had a habit of swearing and insulting when she got annoyed, but it wasn't what she needed right now.

"You better have at least tried talking to him by Monday or I'll make you wish-"

"Goodbye Holly," Adyson interrupted, slapping shut her cell phone. Heaving a sigh, she fell back onto her bed. After she had snapped on Baljeet, she immediately regretted it. However, her, as Holly put it, 'pride that could fill a blimp' had kept her from apologizing. That was Monday. Now it was Friday evening and she had been avoiding him all week, thankful they only had AP Calculus together.

"Only a week," she muttered. They had only met a week ago. No, that was a lie. They had met years ago on one of her Fireside Girls troop's countless adventures at Phineas and Ferb's house. At first, he was just another kid that was around, but eventually he became a regular, just like the rest of the girls. Everyone in the group was friends, and it was easily the greatest time of her life. Now, they had split and as soon as she tried to reconnect with one of the others, this happened.

A gentle moan from the foot of her bed caught her attention. She pulled herself up to see Daisy looking up at her with, quite literally, puppy dog eyes. "You're worried about me, aren't you Daisy?" she asked the animal as she gently scratched her behind the ears. "C'mon, let's go for a walk," she said as she got up. In the hallway, Biscuit was sleeping easily. When her owner and daughter walked past, she raised her head until they passed. Adyson couldn't help but smile as she compared the lazy mother and the ever-energetic daughter in her head. After fastening the leash to Daisy's collar, they were outside and walking along their usual route.

Fifteen minutes later, they were entering the park they always passed through. Adyson couldn't help but think of the meeting she had here a week ago with Baljeet. She shook her head to abandon those thoughts. She was with Daisy to ignore her guilt. She just enjoyed her time with her dog and thought about nothing.

Until she saw him.

He was lying in the same spot as a week ago with a cigarette in his mouth, smoke lazily rising into the sky. Daisy was growling at him, obviously bothered by the smell coming from him. Adyson was about to walk away when a light bulb went off inside of her head. This wasn't the second time she had found him here, but the third.

_Five years ago_

Adyson ran through the park, her eyes peeled for the young Indian boy. Today was the sixth day in a row he had failed to show up at Phineas and Ferb's. During the summer, this was blasphemy for all of their friends. After a call to his house that revealed he wasn't there, all the Fireside Girls had split up to search for him along with Buford, Django, and Irving. Phineas and Ferb were building some device in order to track down their missing friend if the searchers failed.

"Where could he be?" she asked herself. For someone they had all assumed was completely predictable, he was proving shockingly difficult to locate. She was just about to give up and call the others when she saw him, sitting on a hill overlooking a river. Pocketing her phone, she bolted for his position. He didn't notice her until she was practically on top of him.

"Here you are!" she yelled at him. "Seriously, do you have any idea how worried all of us were?"

"S-sorry," he stuttered, shifting away from her. She looked down at the cowardly boy and felt the anger in her heart melt away to pity. He probably had no clue how pathetic he looked right now.

"Why are you here and not at Phineas'?" she asked, countless times calmer than she had been moments before as she took a seat. Baljeet eyed her as if expecting her to suddenly lunge at him, teeth bared. After realizing she wasn't going to harm him, he began speaking.

"I come here whenever I want to be alone," he replied, not looking her in the eye. More than one under-handed comment about being alone at home came to mind, but she thankfully resisted the urge to make any of them.

"What's bothering you?" she asked, thinking she was among the least qualified people to ask that question. The only person she talked to less was Irving.

"I feel unappreciated," he responded. Adyson would be lying if she said those words didn't surprise her. She was expecting something about getting an A-minus in one of his summer classes or being stuck on a college-level math problem.

"Explain," she ordered.

"Every day, I work with Phineas and Ferb on some crazy project. There have been times when I have done almost all the math behind the inventions. Yet, when the project is completed, it is those two that receive all of the praise. It is quite a rare experience when a person actually acknowledges what I contribute to the projects," he explained, though he sounded like he was guilty for feeling this way.

Adyson was conflicted. At first, she wanted to point out how the Fireside Girls didn't receive credit like the boys did, but realized they at least had each other and their merit badges. The most Baljeet had was the walking piece of meat and testosterone known as Buford. Not to mention, when credit was given to the Fireside Girls, Isabella got most of it with Gretchen being a close second. It didn't matter than Adyson carried out much of the actual construction.

"I guess I shouldn't be complaining about this to you," Baljeet sighed. "I am sorry for bothering you with this."

"Thank you," she answered. He looked at her, confused. Adyson celebrated this small victory in her head before returning to the conversation. "For all the plans that you've made. I would've never been able to make things like that."

"You are just trying to comfort me."

"No, I'm not," she objected. "I've always thought it's amazing how you're able to do so much of those things in your head. I could probably only do half of what you do in an hour if I had a week with mathematicians and physicists. Without you, at least half of the things they've ever done would've failed or blown up in their faces."

"Really?"

"Baljeet, you're more amazing then you, or anyone else for that matter, gives you credit for. And trust me, if none of this was true, I wouldn't be saying it," she finished. She believed all of the words she just said and could see that Baljeet, while not believing everything, definitely looked better than he did when she got here. "So what do ya say? Wanna head back to Phineas and Ferb's and break another world record?"

"Okay," Baljeet replied quietly. Adyson saw the redness of his cheeks but decided to let him keep his pride. They stood up and began walking back to the house. Adyson pulled out her phone and texted the group that she had found Baljeet.

"Thank you," he said to her. While Adyson never confirmed it, she liked to believe that when he said that, he was thanking her not only for comforting him, but for all of the work she had put into all the projects they had done. For now, that was enough.

_The Present_

The first time may have been coincidental, but after the second happening, Baljeet had discovered something: being shaken out of thinking by having a dog land on top of you was an unpleasant experience. As he sat up, he saw the perpetrator was the same as last time with the same girl smiling over him. Once again, his cigarette had been ruined.

"Adyson," he said, more than a little surprised. He had just been thinking over how to approach her at school on Monday in order to apologize.

"I'm sorry," she bluntly stated. For a few moments, he was stunned before he found his voice.

"So am I."

After that, she and Daisy sat with him. For over an hour, they talked about things just to talk about them. Not once did either feel the need explain themselves for the apology. Back then, they felt like the other understood them. Now, they hoped that remained true. It wasn't until Adyson received a worried call from her mother that she thought about going home. When she finally did, it was with a smile on her face. It looked quite a bit like Baljeet's.

* * *

><p>Thus ends chapter three. Any feedback from the six of you I believe have lasted this long would be greatly appreciated. So, if you want the next update, tell me what you liked or didn't like about this chapter. Thanks for reading.<p> 


	4. Ethan, Alpha, & Christina

Ethan, Alpha, & Christina

No voices were speaking. It was pure silence as the young ones eyed each other, reading and bluffing the most subtle of clues. Was that a tell? A bluff? Did he mean to do that? What does he have? Questions like these flooded their minds in this small world they had created. A world where the only sounds allowed were the shuffling of cards, the crumpling of bills, and the clattering of coins. Each gentle slap as the cards hit the table echoed around them, reminding the players what was at stake. All eyes grew wide as the deck was reshuffled for the tenth time, signaling that the current hand would be the last. With silent desperation and anxiety almost tangible around them, the final hands were revealed.

"Dammit," Phineas groaned as his two-pair lost out to Ferb's full house. Baljeet only had a pair of queens and Buford had folded before the cost had gotten too steep. Without a word, Ferb collected the pot and added the contents to his own collection.

"Good game," Buford said as he collected the cards. Phineas didn't seem to notice. The fifty dollars he had started with had been reduced to a measly eleven fifty. The other three teens, especially Ferb, were all up at the red-head's expense.

"I should've expected this," Phineas sighed and pocketed the money. "Hey Buford, any chance you could lend me cash for tonight?"

"Phineas, that's a new low," Burford replied.

"C'mon, you know Isabella will kill me if she hears about this," he pleaded.

"Don't tell me that was all your money for your date tonight," Baljeet interrupted.

"Then I won't tell you," Phineas retorted in a desperate yet joking manner. Baljeet couldn't believe it. This was one of the times when he questioned if Phineas really was one of the smartest people at their school. Just when all hope seemed lost, Ferb place a manila envelope in front of Phineas.

"Is this.." he trailed off as he opened it up and pulled out the contents. "Yes, this is just what I need. Thanks-"

"This is all," he told him as he handed him a twenty. For a moment, Phineas looked at his brother as though he were a world class conman, but dropped his gaze.

"I guess I deserve this," he said as he walked out of the living room and up towards his room. Buford and Baljeet had seen this all before. Gretchen's dad owned for a small programming company and would pay Phineas and Ferb to code or program when they were falling behind. Recently, they had been contracted for a huge job and Phineas and Ferb had been given plenty of work. While Ferb was very strict and diligent with his finances, Phineas didn't place much value in money and instead decided that it was more important to spend it on dates and presents for Isabella as well as anything he deemed fun. As a result, he regularly was short on money. In order to "help," Ferb gave Phineas some of his projects to do and paid him up front less than what the total job was worth. In other words, Ferb was profiting off Phineas' carelessness.

"Baljeet, ya wanna come with me to Milly's?" Buford asked. "I need some help with some Government homework."

"Sure," the boy replied as he picked up his possessions. "Are you working tonight?"

"Yep. Let's head out." The two left the house and walked to their respective modes of transportation. Buford led the way, but Baljeet knew the way. Actually, everyone in the city knew where Milly lived. They drove until they were almost out of town when a single, two-story building all alone in a block with several trees around it. They parked in the parking lot and walked up to the building with a simple sign that read Wolfe's. Opening the door, a large but simply furnished restaurant was revealed. Booths ran along the right wall while tables of varying sizes were placed throughout the rest of the room. The room was sparsely populated with diners enjoying their meals.

"Hello sirs," the greeter said. "Will you be dining with us this afternoon?"

"Actually, we're here to see Milly," Buford explained. The woman nodded, though this exchange was unnecessary since everyone that worked here knew who Buford was. They walked straight through the restaurant and through the doors in the back that led to the kitchen. Back there were a few people dressed like chefs sitting around. Some were checking out food stores while others talked or read culinary books or magazines.

"Buford, you're here earlier," a loud voice boomed. Approaching them was a titan of a man, at least six and a half feet tall. He had a large gut but also very muscled arms concealed by the white chef's clothes he was wearing. His practically shaved head had a chef's hat sitting atop it. He was one of the most well-known people in Danville. However, Baljeet, like most people, didn't know his first name. Everyone just called him Alpha Wolfe. "Are you here to say you've finally given up that game of yours in order pursue a real man's path?"

"No sir, I'm still playing football," Buford replied, being surprising calm and respectful.

"Well, I guess we all have our guilty pleasure. Just remember, I'll be willing to give you a challenge once you get fed up with those games," he said, followed by a hearty laugh. It was only out of respect Baljeet wasn't covering his ears. This man's normal voice was causing his ears to ring. He had only heard him yell once and he's still certain he had taken permanent damage to his eardrums.

"You're being loud," a quiet, raspy voice spoke. Baljeet and Buford practically jumped when they heard this. Standing next to them was a young man that was, in many ways, Alpha's opposite. He was impossibly short, topping off at five-two. His strikingly black hair wasn't as long as Baljeet's was, but it was thick enough so his eyes couldn't be seen. He wore a simple black T-shirt and jeans. While Alpha was the center of attention wherever he went, this man barely stood out while he was speaking.

"Don't be ridiculous Ethan," Alpha replied, the grin he always wore growing even bigger. "I was just having a friendly chat with one of my employees."

"Milly's upstairs," he told Buford, ignoring the giant's statements.

"Thank you," Buford said before departing for the second floor using the staircase at the side of the kitchen, Alpha's voice seeming to follow and surround them. When they got up there, they closed the soundproof door and cut off the bellowing going on below.

"Buford," a rather happy Milly said when she saw him. He opened his arms to give her a bear hug which made her giggle happily. "Hi Baljeet," she said when she got herself free of her boyfriend's arms.

"Nice to see you," he greeted.

"'Jeet's here to help me with an assignment," Buford explained.

"Okay, I'll leave you guys alone for now. But you better be ready for work later," she told while placing a quick peck on his cheek. With that, she headed downstairs. Buford stared stupidly after her for a moment before snapping back to reality.

"Shall we get started?" Buford asked as the pair entered the guest room, though Buford was there so often Alpha actually called it Buford's room. Once inside, Baljeet began assisting his friend in understanding the assignment they were given in Government. Buford wasn't stupid, though he wasn't brilliant either. Government was his first class of the day and he was usually too tried to pay much attention. As a result, Baljeet regularly had to lend Buford his notes and reteach him the lessons.

After they were done, Buford showed off his specialty by helping Baljeet with French. For reasons he had never disclosed to Baljeet, Buford had learned French at an early age and was fluent in the language. Baljeet was already bilingual, making learning a third language while still in high school quite difficult. It wasn't an exaggeration to say if it wasn't for Buford, Baljeet wouldn't have gotten as far as he had in French.

"Buford, work time!" Milly called from the second floor entrance.

"One sec!" he answered. He quickly rushed to the closet and grabbed his chef clothes. Luckily for him, he didn't do much actual cooking. He just helped with minor tasks and preparation almost all the cooking was done by Alpha and the chefs he deemed worthy. At the moment, that was only Milly. His food was good enough to be served in a five-star restaurant, so it was understandable why he was so picky. This pickiness is what led to his success and fame throughout the city. "See ya later, Jeet," Buford told his friend as he rushed out of the room.

"Bye!" he called after the boy. He had just finished putting his stuff into his backpack and was leaving. When he closed the door behind him, he saw Ethan leaning against the wall next to the door. The quiet boy jerked his head to the side, signaling down the hall. Baljeet nodded, giving Ethan all the information he needed. He walked to the last door down the hall. It opened to show a staircase leading up. The two walked up it, ending up on the roof of Wolfe's. The sun was already beginning to set, giving the entire world a slight orange tint. Ethan sat on the edge of the roof, though he made sure to sit so he was at the back of the building. People seemed to have a problem with a punk sitting over the entrance to a dignified restaurant. Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Wordlessly, he slipped one out and lit it up.

"Pass me one," Baljeet ordered as he took a seat next to him.

"I'm not ending your life," he shot back, his voice still quiet and raspy.

"Think of it as saving yours," Baljeet explained as he took one. Ethan didn't object as the Indian flicked on his lighter and ignited the small stick.

"I hope you know you're killing yourself."

"I got plenty of life left in me." After that comment, neither talked and just enjoyed his fellow smoker's company. When Baljeet reached for a second cigarette, Ethan swatted his hand away.

"Only one freebie."

"That's taking responsibility for you actions," Baljeet complained as he pulled out his own cigarette to smoke.

"Milly said you been hanging around with Adyson Sweetwater the past week," Ethan stated quite plainly.

"Yeah. So?" Baljeet asked. It's true that over the past week, he had been spending time with her, though he hadn't told his friends this.

"You like her?" Ethan asked, not once showing anything more than very mild curiosity. Baljeet had to think hard about it as he took a particularly long drag.

"Maybe," he answered, that being the most truthful answer he could come up with.

"Ask her out."

"I'll wait until I'm sure."

"Baljeet, our rule is everyone has their scars. I have mine, you have yours, and neither of us ask about each other's. Trust me when I say waiting is a bad idea."

"I'm not sure I like her. I'll wait until I can be certain."

"Suit yourself," Ethan finished. "Actually, listening to me got you hooked on cigs, so maybe you shouldn't trust me."

"Noted."

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"You really didn't know?" Holly asked in disbelief.

"I never thought she was serious. I always thought it was just a joke," Adyson defended herself. She was currently sitting on the floor of Holly's bedroom while leaning up against the wall. Holly was sitting backwards on a rolling desk chair and facing her. Katie was standing against the wall nearest Holly. Ginger and Christina were on Holly's bed getting a little too cozy.

"Please don't remind me. I was embarrassed enough back then," Ginger objected.

"I still remember a time when the 'no guys' rule meant no couples," Katie observed, looking over the pair of lesbians as they cuddled. It was hard to believe Ginger ever had held feelings for a guy when she looked like this.

"How did that even happen?" Adyson asked Ginger.

"Well, he was really smart and I thought he looked cute," she explained before turning to Christina. "Of course, that was before I met you."

"Oh you," Christina whispered before gently kissing Ginger.

"I sleep there, thank you very much," Holly called to the girls that reluctantly separated, though they continued to hold each other's hands. "Anyway, I've noticed you and Baljeet have been getting along quite well lately," Holly teased.

"We've just been talking," Adyson replied, unfazed by Holly's implications.

"Really?" Katie asked, doing a shockingly accurate impersonation of a twelve year-old girl.

"Really," Adyson restated.

"And here I thought our little Adyson was finally growing up," Ginger moaned while pretending to cry.

"It's okay darling," Christina consoled, her voice taking on the tone of controlled sadness. "One day, when she knows love, she will become a woman."

"But how can we know that day will ever come?" Ginger asked, acting even more dramatic than Christina.

"We can't know," she said, regret filling every word. "We can only hope," she explained, wrapping Ginger it a tight, mournful embrace.

"Ignoring the peanut gallery," Holly sighed as the members of the drama club drifted off into their own little world, "are you two going out."

"No, we're just friends," Adyson explained again, wondering if she acted the same when the others were getting close to their now significant others.

"So boring," Katie sighed. "Maybe I should break up with Django. At least it would be more interesting that way."

"How 'bout I tell 'im you said that," Holly said as she pulled out her cell.

"I was just joking," Katie said, immediately flustered.

"Anyway, why don't you get yourself a boyfriend?" Holly asked. "I mean, it's gotta be annoying being the only single one."

"You talk like it's easy," Adyson retorted.

"Adyson, you're hot and you know it. You could get any athlete you wanted," Holly tried to explain.

"Provided I don't want anyone smarter than a fourth grader."

"What about Cameron? He seems to like you," Katie interjected.

"I'm pretty sure he's dating his piano."

"Baljeet wouldn't reject anyone," Ginger added.

"I don't want a boyfriend for the sake of having a boyfriend," she almost yelled. She couldn't count the number of times she had had this conversation, but she has been sick of it since the first one.

"Looks like it's time to go," Christina said when she glanced down at her watch. "You're walking me home, right Adyson?"

"Sure," she said as she pulled herself up.

"See you later babe," Christina said as she gave Ginger a parting kiss that Katie made sure to look away from. "See you all on Monday."

"If not sooner," Adyson finished as they walked out of the room. They didn't run into Holly's parents, so they showed themselves out. Christina lived right down the street from Adyson, so they usually went home together. While both could drive, Christina somehow convinced Adyson that they should walk everywhere. 'There are only a few nice days left,' she had said, but that was almost a month ago. Still, the evening sky's blue with oranges streaking across it was breathtaking.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Christina asked as they walked along.

"It is."

"Makes me miss Alaska though. The Aurora Borealis makes the entire sky look like a painting. And in Montana, you can see millions of stars. If you're on the coast of Maine, you can sometimes see tiny dots of lights that are fishing ships. But the best was Hawaii. Imagine every star that ever existed above you in the sky and below you in the water. It really is something else," Christina described. She looked almost as happy as she did when she was with Ginger.

"You really did travel all over the country," Adyson said, unable to help catching her infectious smile. Christina was pretty, but in a tomboyish way. Her sandy blond hair was cut short, making its longest point halfway down her neck. She had almost nothing in the way of breasts, making her look like a boy when she wore loose clothing. Still, her face held some hard to recognize but unquestionably feminine features.

"Yeah, but I'm glad we've been here for so long. After all, I got to meet you all," she said happily. "You've been the first real friends I've had."

"I'm glad you moved here."

"So, in all honesty, do you like Baljeet? Don't worry, I won't tell Holly what you say," she asked, playing her innocent act much stronger than was necessary.

"I-," she started, ready to object, but she stopped. "I'm not sure," she finished.

"Well, better than a no," she said with a devilish grin.

"Wait, what are you planning?" Adyson asked, regretting her honesty a moment ago.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," she said, though her smile said something quite different. Adyson was about to yell when she took off down the street. Adyson was off like a rocket, determined to make sure Baljeet didn't hear what she just said.

* * *

><p>Chapter four is done. Sorry for the delay, but I've been really busy as of late. I am still striving to make the story even better. So please leave a review and tell me what you think.<p> 


	5. Oh, the Money You'll Owe

Oh, the Money You'll Owe

"Fahrenheit 451?" Baljeet asked. Ferb nodded almost immediately.

"Catcher in the Rye?" Ferb asked himself.

"I take offense to that," Baljeet answered. "How about Paradise Lost?"

"As riveting as you two may find this inquiry," Gretchen interrupted, "as a bystander, I must report an overwhelming level of disinterest." Ferb looked at his girlfriend for a moment before turning back to Baljeet and nodding.

"Speaking of bystanders, where are Phineas and Isabella?" Baljeet asked.

"I can't claim to know, though it wouldn't be the first instance of vanishing that has occurred to those two," she answered, looking around the cafeteria. "However, this would mark the first time in which they failed to submit an incredulous excuse to explain their absence."

"Well, at least- hey, there's Isabella," Baljeet said surprisingly, raisinh his hand to point at the oncoming black-haired girl. She lacked her usual composure and instead looked quite flustered and panicked.

"Ferb! Baljeet!" Isabella gasped as she reached the table. Her face was red as she tried to catch her breath.

"Isabella, what's wrong?" Baljeet asked as he stood and placed a hand on her back. Ferb was also up with concern on his face.

"Phineas…he's…gambling," she said between breaths. Ferb and Baljeet exchanged uneasy looks. Though Isabella and Gretchen disapproved, the brothers, Baljeet, and Buford loved playing cards for cash. Of course, they didn't tell their girlfriends when they did.

"Is that what's happening?" Baljeet asked, his voice shaking in nervousness but still showing worry for her.

"And he's down eighty dollars."

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"Phineas," Baljeet said as he entered the old science room. It had been eight years since the room had been used, so it was the best place for students to go when they wanted to do anything illegal. All the desks had been pushed along the walls and a single table had been set up in the center of the room. The table was surrounded by students that parted to let Baljeet through. At the table was Phineas with a crestfallen expression on his face, a boy that appeared to be the dealer, and a third boy that had a decent number of bills in front of him.

"Hey Baljeet," the boy said. Baljeet placed him as Taylor Clark, a senior and a member of the computer club. His square head and youthful face disguised a mind that was always plotting something to benefit himself, usually at the expense of others.

"What happened?" he asked, though he was already sure he knew the answer.

"Nothing much. I challenged Phineas to a game of Texas Hold'em and won a hundred dollars," Taylor said, attempting to act indifferent but the corners of his mouth were twisted up into a smile.

"I didn't think he was that good," Phineas sighed as he stood up. After only a few steps, Ferb had replaced his brother in the seat.

"So, I have the honor of playing both Flynn-Fletcher brothers," Taylor taunted Ferb glared with a fiery intensity, ignoring his words.

"Deal," Ferb said as he placed a five in the center. Zack Foster, the dealer, looked to Taylor for confirmation. Baljeet was already running through the possibilities for Phineas' loss. Lunch had started twenty-five minutes ago, so it was possible he had just gotten unlucky. Zack was always completely neutral, so him helping Taylor was almost impossible. Still, something wasn't right. For the short time he had been in the computer club, Baljeet had learned Taylor wasn't the type of person to do anything that wasn't guaranteed. Poker was a game of mind-reading and risks, making it impossible to ever be a sure thing. Not only was it out of character, but Taylor was too confident for a game against one of the best poker players in school.

Sure enough, when lunch ended, Ferb was also out a hundred dollars. While Phineas had looked dejected, Ferb looked downright furious. "Guess it's my win," Taylor almost laughed as he got up. Zack wordlessly collected the cards and shuffled the deck before it was placed in his bag. As Taylor approached the exit, Baljeet stepped in front of him. "You want something, 'Jeet?"

"Tomorrow, two-hundred dollars," he told him before leaving himself. He didn't have to look behind him to know what expression was on his face.

It was almost passing time and Baljeet needed to move fast if he didn't want to be late for his next class. Luckily, he knew straight where he was headed and got there just as she did. "Adyson," he called to the girl opening her locker.

"Hey Baljeet, what's up?" she asked, more than a little confused over why he was here.

"I was wondering if we could hang out after school," he said, though his voice was both angry and urgent.

"Sure," she replied, more than a bit nervous.

"Meet me at my car then," he told her before leaving. Something was up with him and she was just confused. Sighing, she switched out her books and headed for her sixth hour Sociology class. When she got inside, she saw Cameron waiting for her.

"Cuttin' it close, ain't cha?" he asked when she took a seat.

"Sorry, I was talking to Baljeet," she explained.

"Ah yeah, him. What's up?"

"He just wanted to know if I wanted to hang out with him after school, so I said yes. He was acting kinda off, though," she explained.

"Hmm," he grumbled as he thought, leaning back in his chair. Adyson looked at him when Katie's words came flooding back to her. _What about Cameron? He seems to like you._ She shook her head. There was no way the well-known piano aficionado would be harboring feelings for her. Still, she couldn't deny how attractive he was. His eyes were a bit off center, but they had a deep blue color that no one could help but fall into. His dark brown hair was longer than many of the girls, reaching halfway down the back of his five-foot-eight frame. He tied it up into a braid that made him look like a noble out of a movie. But easily his best trait was his voice. Whether he was singing along to his iPod or the notes that he played on the piano, his voice transfixed everyone that listened. Even while speaking, it still held some charisma that made him a pleasure to talk to.

"I know, maybe he wants t' ask ya out? Any guy'd get nervous from that," he said excitedly. Adyson couldn't detect even a hint of jealousy in his voice, again supporting her earlier thought. It was only after she registered the way he spoke did what he say actually sink in.

"Wait, what!" she exclaimed, almost falling out of her desk.

"Said he might ask ya out," Cameron stated again.

"Baljeet. There's no way he'd ever do anything like that," she told him.

"Ain't impossible. Can't thinka any reason he wouldn't," he defended. She was just about to object again when the teacher began teaching class. Adyson couldn't believe it. She knew it had to be something else.

The rest of the day proved to be almost unbearable thanks to her constant stream of thoughts. Cameron was no help since he had convinced himself that his belief was correct. She thought through the possibilities so thoroughly that when she finally approached his car by the end of day, she was wondering what she would do if he confessed to loving Irving.

"Hey," he said. He had been standing next to the driver's side door waiting for her. He opened his door and took his seat followed very quickly followed by Adyson doing the same. "Have you heard of Zack's Hand?" he asked as he started the car.

"No," Adyson replied, taken aback by his sudden question. "Why? Should I have?"

"Probably not," he answered. He remained silent until he pulled out onto the road. "Zack's Hand is what people call the old science room during fifth hour lunch. It's where students go to play cards and gamble."

"You play cards," she almost growled at him. "You gamble, you smoke, what next! You deal pot on the side? Maybe you have some prostitutes coming over to your house tonight? Or possibly-"

"Adyson, listen!" Baljeet barked, cutting her off. She was finding herself scared of him at this moment. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Anyway, today Phineas lost a hundred dollars to a complete amateur. Ferb tried to win the money back but lost a hundred himself. Now I'm set to play him tomorrow with the stakes being two hundred dollars." Adyson's mouth practically fell open. The fact that these high school students had that much money to throw around was not only shocking, but also pissing her off immensely.

"What does this have to do with me?" she asked, not even trying to hold back her anger.

"I want you to help me," he stated very bluntly. He was being very surprising today and Adyson found herself struggling to keep up with him.

"Are you out of your mind? I don't know the first thing about poker. Not to mention, how could I help you? You play on your own?" she asked.

"Please, just trust me on this one," he practically begged without losing the seriousness his voice had held during the entire conversation. "If you help me, then I'll do whatever you ask when win."

"_If_ you win."

"No, _when_ I win," he emphasized, putting unnecessary space between each word. Adyson took the time to glance at his hands to see his knuckles were white from gripping the wheel so tight. In all the years she had known him, he had never been half this serious.

"Okay, I'm in," she sighed. Baljeet released the breath he had been holding and eased up his grip on the steering wheel. "Just tell me what to do."

"Here's the plan…"

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"And so he arrives," Taylor said with a smug look on his face as Baljeet entered the room. He looked around the crowd to see Phineas, Ferb, and Adyson were all there. His main concern was, of course, Adyson. Their eyes met for a brief moment before separating. Plenty of people came irregularly, so Adyson wouldn't stick out at all. As Baljeet took his seat, his eyes were already observing every movement in Taylor's face. Wordlessly, he drew the wad of bills he would play with.

"Are both players ready?" Zack asked, his face and voice the model of professionalism.

"Yes," Baljeet answered, his eyes not leaving Taylor's.

"I hope you go easy on me," Taylor said with a nod to Zack. That signaled the dealing of the first hand. Baljeet was observant, making sure to note every reaction Taylor made as he tried to figure out what his tell was. Taylor seemed disinterested in Baljeet and focused almost entirely on what his cards were. Baljeet lost some hands, but Taylor never did. He always folded when Baljeet had good cards. But Baljeet didn't care that he was losing. He was in a world where even the slightest misread could cause him to lose everything. This game gave him a high unlike anything else he had experienced. After eight hands, Baljeet saw what he was looking for. Whenever Taylor had a bad hand, he would partially close his right eyelid for a moment. On hand twelve, the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

He had a queen and an ace down while the three cards Zack had revealed were two queens and an ace. When Baljeet saw his right eyelid partially close, he tapped the top of his cards with his pinky twice. While a player doing that was not strange in the slightest, Baljeet had just sealed Taylor's fate. Baljeet and Taylor both bet heavily and the next two cards shown by Zack was a six and a ten.

"All in," Baljeet said as he placed all of his remaining money in the center of the table.

"I'll call your bluff," Taylor taunted as all of his money went there as well. Most students were shocked to see that much money in one pot, but none dared make a sound. Baljeet's heart was racing as he reached to reveal his hand. _Please, let me be right_. Taylor showed first, letting Baljeet see his ace and nine. Baljeet couldn't help but smile when Taylor's eyes practically grew at the sight of Baljeet's cards that gave him a full house. Baljeet reached in and grabbed all the money.

"Impossible!" Taylor yelled as he stood up, sending his seat clattering to the ground. "You must've cheated!"

"Do you have anything to support that claim?" Zack asked, his annoyance barely trickling through. Taylor bit down and growled, showing his lack of evidence more than anything.

"It's okay, I admit to it," Baljeet said, causing everyone to stare at him as well as several people's jaws to drop. "But before you do anything, may I speak first?"

"Of course," Zack said slowly, still partially in shock. Taylor remained standing, glaring at Baljeet.

"Adyson, if you please," Baljeet said. The named girl approached him and handed him an iPhone. Taylor's eyes grew much wider when he saw the device.

"That's not yours," Taylor said, reaching for the phone. Before he could reach it, his wrist was caught in an ironclad grip.

"Let him finish," Zack ordered. Baljeet remembered then that Zack had been in the same judo class as Buford for years now. He was probably strong enough to be a bouncer if the need ever arose.

"Thanks," Baljeet said to him as he released his grip and Taylor's hand retracted. Most of the crowd was closing in on Baljeet now, anger and curiosity surging. "I'd like for you all to see this," he told everyone as he turned on the phone. On the screen were several buttons. The left side had one for each of the suits with the respective symbols. On the right were the letters A, J, Q, K, and the number two through nine. At the bottom was a red 'send' button. "Whoever used this would press the suit and the number of each card held by an opponent and send it to the player's phone. Their phone would vibrate a certain number of times for the suit, pause momentarily, and then vibrate a number of times equal to the card's number. The vibrating would be very slight so it couldn't be heard."

"And you're telling us he bought this app to cheat?" Zack asked.

"No. However, did you know one of the most popular apps was designed by a minor? Both Taylor and Jessica," Baljeet pointed at one of the girls in the crowd that had been shying away, "are members of the computer club. It wouldn't be very difficult for them to program this app.

"I noticed she was using her phone while standing behind Ferb in the last game. She was subtle about it, so it was pure chance that I noticed. It was easy to figure out from there that she and Taylor were working together to win the game. So I had Adyson help me take possession of the phone. She fed him the information normally until I found an opportunity to take him for all he had. When I did, she lied about my hand and led him to believe I was bluffing with everything," he finished. Most people were astonished, but found the time to glare angrily at both Taylor and Jessica.

"Quite an amazing claim," Taylor said, his composure, "but you only proved that Jessica was practicing cheating. You have no proof that she was sending it to me," he declared. "Also," he said as he reached into his pockets and placed some pencils and an empty wallet on the card table, "I don't have a phone."

Baljeet stared in astonishment. He didn't think Taylor would take it this far. He expected him to crumble once Baljeet had exposed his cheat. With this evidence, most assumed Taylor was guilty, but without his phone, the claims couldn't evolve any further. Strip searching him would be a violation of the Constitution if no faculty member with reasonable suspicion ordered it. As illegal gambling, there was no one who could enforce the practice. Baljeet had gotten close, but he had lost.

"What's your last name?" Adyson asked Taylor, drawing attention for the first time since she handed over the phone.

"Clark," Taylor answered. Adyson grabbed the phone out of Baljeet's hand and began fiddling with it. "Hang on," she said to Baljeet before he objected, "I'm calling a friend."

As those words left her mouth, she brought the phone up to her ear. Shortly after that, the classic iPhone ringtone filled the air. It was coming from the ground near Taylor. Zack was on the ground and reached for Taylor's ankle. He stuck his hand into his sock and removed a vibrating iPhone with the words 'Incoming Call: Jessica Sparks' on the screen. Soon after, the sound died.

"He didn't pick up," Adyson told them as she returned the phone to Baljeet. Baljeet felt the incredible desire to hug her at that moment, but he decided to leave that for later. Zack had turned on the phone to a screen that listed off all of the cards Baljeet had drawn except the last two cards. Zack returned the phone to Taylor and pulled out a tiny book and a pen out of his pocket.

"In light of recent information, the game between Taylor Clark and Baljeet Rai is declared void," Zack announced. More than one person looked ready to scream when Zack said this, but he continued. "The game between Taylor Clark and Ferb Fletcher is declared void. The game between Taylor Clark and Phineas Flynn is declared void," he continued to read off, making marks in his bokk at each game. He declared fourteen games void in all, leading to Taylor's stunned expression. "The policy of Zack's Hand, as stated in the contract that all players must sign, is that all winnings are returned to the original owner should a game be declared void."

"Bu- bu- but I already spent some of the money," Taylor stammered. Baljeet learned then that he had a sadistic side as he watched the boy squirm under Zack's orders.

"Then you will have to find a way to come up with the money to repay the others," Zack explained to him. Adyson grabbed the phone and tossed it to a dumbstruck Jessica who barely managed to catch it.

"Now if you don't mind, I actually have a class," Adyson angrily told him. Baljeet wasn't able to say anything to her before she left. He decided now wasn't the best time to do something, so he would just have to talk to her later.

"Phineas! Ferb!" Zack called. He handed over the two hundred dollars Taylor had cheated them out of. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you."

"Thank you, Zack," Phineas repled before the dealer returned to handle Taylor and Jessica. "And thanks to you Baljeet," Phineas said to the Indian boy who was now standing up. Both of the brothers extended the hands holding the money towards him, much to his surprise. "We lost; you won. Take it, you deserve it."

"It was stolen from you. You didn't deserve to lose it," Baljeet objected, raising his hands in front of himself to signal his refusal.

"That doesn't change the fact that we still lost," Phineas objected. "Take it. We want you to."

"No, I-" he stuttered, trying to put his thoughts into words. Finally, he had an idea. "If you want to thank me, take Isabella and Gretchen out on nice dates. I mean hundred dollar nice dates. After, I hear they're less than thrilled about this."

"Are you sure?" Phineas asked. Baljeet answered with a simple nod. "You're too nice, you know that?" Phineas jokingly asked as he put the money in his pocket. "We owe you one, and don't ever be afraid to ask us for it."

"I won't," he told them with a smile. The three friends departed for the cafeteria to grab some food before the end of lunch and hopefully appease the angry girls waiting for them.

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Baljeet smiled to himself as he exited the school building, happy this would be this first weekend in a while he only had one assignment to complete. It was an AP Calculus assignment, but he wasn't the type to complain about that. He was thinking about how he should spend his time when he noticed Zack walking towards him. "Hello Zack," Baljeet greeted.

"Hello," he responded. "I wanted to thank you again for catching Taylor."

"It was no problem. You should probably be thanking Adyson, actually. If it wasn't for her, we would never have proved it."

"Still, you helped quite a few people," he told him as he pulled something out of his pocket. "So, this is a thank you gift from everyone." Baljeet looked down to see a couple bills as well as a pack of cards. "Before you object, this is ten percent of what we took back from Taylor. Everyone thought you should have it."

"Thanks," Baljeet said as he picked up the money and the deck. It had a design he had never seen before. The top and bottom had a right hand at an angle with the fingers fully extended and the thumb at a right angle from the index finger. The index finger of both hands met at the thumbs of the other. Between the fingers was an eye with the letter Z in the iris. The entire design was a gentle blue color.

"That is the first official Zack's Hand playing card deck," he explained. "I found a small printing company that gave me a great deal on it."

"This is awesome," Baljeet breathed. It looked like Zack was serious about owning his own casino one day.

"But I guess I shouldn't keep you any longer," Zack almost whispered as he signaled towards Baljeet's car. Standing against it was Adyson, looking very annoyed. "Best of luck," he said with a pat on the back as he walked away. Baljeet sighed inwardly as he approached the car, hoping he wasn't in too much trouble.

"Hello," he greeted awkwardly, the exaggerated wave he added only displaying his nervousness like a neon sign. Adyson nodded to him in response. Baljeet had no idea what to do. This was the first time he had been around her when she was being silent. He unlocked the car and she got in on her own. Baljeet nervously followed suit, dreading what was going to happen next.

"First," Adyson started when Baljeet turned on the car, "no more gambling."

"What are you talking about?" Baljeet asked.

"You said you would do anything I asked. So now I'm asking. First off, you can't gamble anymore."

"That's not a problem," he replied. Zack's Hand was closed until Zack could find a way to prevent anyone from pulling something like what Taylor pulled. As for Phineas and Ferb, they had been keeping the gambling a secret from their girlfriends. Isabella and Gretchen were, to say the least, very disappointed in them. They had also had their gambling privileges revoked, leaving only Buford and occasionally Milly to play cards with.

"Second, you're treating me to Wolfe's tonight. And I don't mean calling in a favor from Buford or Milly and getting a free meal. If you got enough money to gamble, you can buy me dinner."

"I can't disagree with that."

"Finally," she started, an evil smile spreading across her lips, terrifying Baljeet, "you're going to help me with the AP Calculus assignment due Monday,"

"I would've done that even if I didn't owe you anything," Baljeet replied, laughing at his fear a moment ago. "I help all my friends with homework."

"Yeah," she said, her voice trailing off as she realized something. _Baljeet and I are friends,_ she thought, a smile coming to her lips when she thought of this. "Let's get to my house. If we start soon, we can get to Wolfe's by six."

"If we're lucky," Baljeet jokingly responded. "Hey, no hitting the driver!"

* * *

><p>Chapter four! Pretty much everything after the title I am completely unsure of, so any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for with me for so long. I would like to take this time to mention the person who helped make this story possible: Lowrider. Without this person, A Pair of Third Wheels would have remained a one-shot in my documents file on my computer. So thank you Lowrider, and if you're not Lowrider, go read all of Lowrider's Phineas &amp; Ferb stories. Seriously, if you have time to read this, go read those stories.<p> 


	6. A Wolfe Dinner with a MEBRIS Dessert

A Wolfe Dinner with a MEBRIS Dessert

"Welcome to Wolfe's," the greeter said. "Please, sit anywhere you like," she said, signaling to the rest of the restaurant. Baljeet and Adyson walked over to the nearest booth and sat down. On the table were two navy blue menus with the word 'Wolfe's' written in elegant writing.

"This is different from the last time I was here," Adyson commented as she read through the dinner options, "but…it's the same as the time before."

"Didn't you know?" Baljeet asked as he read through the menu himself. "There are many different menus. Alpha likes to use different ones every night so he doesn't have to cook the same thing every day."

"I'm guessing each is a different color."

"Yep. It's so they don't get mixed up. Milly refuses to tell me how many there are, but so far I've counted ten."

"Alpha pretty is crazy, isn't he?"

"Add in the fact that he's memorized every recipe for everything in all the menus, than yes, yes he is." The two friends continued to chat as they read over the menu. Neither noticed two heads sticking out of the kitchen, looking them over like a predator sizing up its prey.

"Buford, correct me if I'm wrong, but is that-" the first one asked.

"Baljeet and Adyson on a date? It would appear so," the second answered. The two stared for a few seconds longer before retreating back into the kitchen.

"Do you know what this means?" Milly asked, though she obviously knew the answer.

"I'll wait here," Buford replied. Milly was bolting up the stairs. A minute later MIlly had returned with a reluctant Ethan in tow. The trio quickly went over to the dessert preparation area Ethan had for his personal use that was next to a giant wall freezer.

"What's so important?" Ethan asked in his usual tone, more than a little annoyed at his younger sister.

"We need a cake," Milly told him. Ethan walked over to the freezer and opened up the top section to reveal several cakes of various designs ready to be served. He began walking away but Milly pulled him back. "I mean a special cake."

"I only do those as per request," he answered, brushing her hand off of him. "I need time."

"I'm requesting it. How could you refuse your cute little sister?" she said very sweetly and did her wounded puppy face.

"Like this," he answered as he attempted to leave again, only to be stopped by Buford this time.

"It's for Baljeet and Adyson," Buford told him. Ethan stopped when he heard the Indian boy's name.

"He's got a date?" he asked in disbelief. Milly and Buford nodded, sending Ethan into deep thought. "A lover's cake?" he asked without opening his eyes.

"Yes," Milly answered with a smile.

"I'll do it," he told them as he pulled out a hair tie from his pocket. "I'll need Buford to help me," he told them as he tied his hair back into a small ponytail. "Milly, stall getting their order made as long as possible without them realizing something is up."

"You got it," she answered with a salute. "The Milly -Ethan-Buford Romantic Interference Squad is ready for action!" she exclaimed. The two boys looked at her strangely for a few moments without moving. "Well, we've helped five other couples get together, so Ginger and Christina decided we needed a name."

"And Milly-Ethan-Buford Romantic Interference Squad was the best they could come up with?" Ethan asked, his annoyance resurging.

"Well, it was either that or the Super Happy Love-Love Task Force," she told them as she ran off the continue cooking.

"So we're MEBRIS," Ethan mumbled to himself as he appeared to test the word. "Could be worse. Let's grab the ingredients," he told Buford as they hit the storeroom.

Meanwhile, Baljeet and Adyson had just received their drinks. While Adyson had a soda placed before her, Baljeet had gone with iced tea.

"Would you like to order now?" their waiter, David, asked.

"I believe we're ready," Baljeet said, looking to Adyson for confirmation, who nodded in response. "I'll have Wolfe's Special."

"Same here," Adyson told him.

"That comes with either a soup or salad," David informed them as he took their menus.

"Minestrone soup," they told him simultaneously, causing both of them to laugh quietly. David smiled slightly at this before giving a slight bow and walking away.

"Do you usually get Wolfe's Special?" Adyson asked as she took a sip of her soda.

"Yeah. You?"

"Every time," she answered. It was called Wolfe's Special, but it really was whatever either Alpha or Milly felt like making when they got the order. It was the most popular order in the restaurant since both have them had yet to succeed in making something that wasn't delicious. It was also how they tested out new recipes they were considering on adding to the menus.  
>"So, back to what we were talking about, you said you ran track freshman year," Baljeet began.<p>

"Yep. Only one year, thank god."

"Do you hate running that much?"

"I love it. I still do it regularly along with Daisy. What I hate," she made sure to emphasize that, "are obnoxious jocks that think they're God's gift to women. They watched the girls' practice and made all sorts of remarks. Some of the brighter dimwits even made up nicknames for each of us. Some still call me by the mine," she pouted as she took a long drink from the soda.

"Sweet Ass Addie?" Baljeet asked, remembering what Buford had called her before. Adyson almost immediately began coughing on her drink. She recovered, but her cheeks had turned a rather dark red.

"How did you know that!" she asked in a yelling whisper. "Buford," she answered herself. "Yeah, that was it. I'm just surprised that whoever came up with that name was able to devote enough brainpower to thinking yet not cause his head to short-circuit from overwork."

"Umm…" Baljeet trailed off, using his drink as an excuse to be silent, racking his brain for a new subject to talk about. He was still a little frightened from her reaction a moment ago.

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"They ordered Wolfe's Special?" Milly asked David with a large smile. His nod made her want to celebrate a small victory. She could put off their order for a few minutes as well as make one that took longer than most others. She worked on some of the other dishes until five minutes passed. "Armando, boil the pasta for the reef! Sarah, prepare vegetables for the same thing! Vince, grab me the ingredients for the sauce and if we don't have them then you better run fast!"

"She's so beautiful when she's working," Buford sighed as he stared at her giving orders to the adults that worked there.

"Try terrifying. She'd make a Spartan cry," Ethan grumbled as he continued working on the batter. He was working much faster than he usually did while taking care not to rush anything. "Buford, you didn't grab the cinnamon! You're not a trainee anymore!" Ethan yelled at him, obviously unaware how much he resembled his father and sister at the moment. In fact, the most common sound in the kitchen tended to be members of the Wolfe family barking orders. When Buford returned with the required ingredient, Ethan was calculating how long it would take him to finish. Without a doubt, it was going to be close. When the batter was finally ready, he poured it into two cake pans. Less than a minute later, they were cooking.

Unaware of the trouble three people were going to for their expense, Baljeet and Adyson continued to carry along their conversation. It was Adyson that was facing the entrance, so she was also the one that saw Ferb and Gretchen enter. Her first reflex was to duck down to avoid being seen.

"What's wrong?" Baljeet asked, turning to look where she had been when her eyes had grown wide. When he saw the green-haired boy with his girlfriend, he couldn't help but imitate her. "Why are you hiding?"

"Why do you think?" she asked sarcastically. When he continued to wear the same puzzled look, she sighed. "If they see us, they might start rumors we're dating," she lied. Honestly, she didn't care if people thought they were dating, but she was worried what would happen if this reached Isabella.

"It's Ferb and Gretchen. If it was Phineas and Isabella, I'd understand, but those two are more likely to completely ignore us than spread rumors."

"I guess," she said as she sat back up, but she still tried to avoid them. Baljeet eventually distracted her with the conversation so she missed Ferb and Gretchen staring at them with quite a bit of surprise.

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"Done," Milly said happily as she finished two identical plates. Five different pastas were mixed together and arranged in a ring around the plate. Running along both the inside and outside edge of the pasta were many different kinds of vegetables. In the center were several pieces of choice beef. Applied across the entire dish was her special sauce that not even her father knew the recipe to. Overall, the Pasta Reef was not only her favorite custom recipe, but also the one that made Alpha admit that she was going to inherit the restaurant one day. She took a moment to admire her creations before handing the dishes off to David to bring to the couple. Since there was a lax in the orders at the moment, she headed over to the dessert area to find Buford assisting Ethan apply icing to the cake. And by assist, she meant Buford was constantly handing Ethan a knife covered with icing in exchange for one that wasn't.

"Good, you're here. Go get my tools," Ethan ordered her, his voice lacking its usual timidity. She complied, rushing to where the dishes were kept and found a wooden box the size of a briefcase that she rushed back to him. He had just finished applying the icing and opened up the container. On the bottom were approximately forty different tubes of frosting, each a different color. On top were countless different kinds of tops as well as many strangely shaped knives. He grabbed one that looked like just a regular knife and began smoothing out the icing.

"Buford, crimson with star, lavender with wave, pink with dot, red with dot," he listed off. Buford proceeded to attach specific tips to each of the frosting tubes Ethan had named. While they were doing this, David had just placed the Pasta Reefs in front of Adyson and Baljeet.

"Looks like Milly cooked for us tonight," Baljeet said with a large smile.

"How can you tell?" Adyson asked, looking around the plate from some sort of indication.

"This is her signature dish. I don't know how many versions Buford and I tried while she was perfecting it."

"Well, it looks great," Adyson said happily as she took a bite. She suddenly took back what she had just said. Great was far too inferior of a word to describe how this tasted. In fact, she couldn't think of any way to describe it. It was just too fantastic.

"They do appear to be enjoying themselves to quite a high degree," Gretchen observed. Ferb also looked, but he was being silent as per usual. "Ferb, do you possess any intentions on informing your brother on this scene that we are currently witnessing?" He nodded in response. "I must request that you do not. They would almost certainly prefer that misconceptions about their relationship were not spread amongst the student body." Ferb gave a nod of agreement before returning to the menu. While that was partly true, she also didn't want her best friend to hear about this. It was an unwritten rule that Adyson was not mentioned around Isabella. While the boys were not aware of this rule, Milly and Gretchen were usually able to direct the conversation away from her before she was brought up.

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"How's it coming along?" Milly asked her brother.

"I just finished decorating," he told her as he pulled back his shaping knife as he finished making the final shape. Beautiful designs were all across the cake. It was, like all of Ethan's cakes, a masterpiece. "How much time do we have?"

"Maybe ten minutes," she answered, her voice now very urgent. Buford had taken a backseat, knowing he couldn't say anything when the Wolfes got like this.

"That's not enough time to chill it," he grumbled. Ethan's cakes were best served cold, so they were usually made hours ahead of time and stored in the freezer. Now, they didn't have the time to do that. "Buford, place the cake on a plastic plate and put it inside of one of the metal serving dishes we use at parties and meet me on the roof. I need to go grab some duct tape."

"What?" Milly shouted, but Ethan was already running for the stairs. She looked at Buford as if he had the answer, but shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, might as well do as he says."

"For MEBRIS," Buford told her as he began placing the cake as ordered. She returned to work while Buford went to the roof as fast as he could without jeopardizing the cake. When he got up there, he saw Ethan waiting for him. He was wearing gloves and had a roll of duct tape in his hand as well as a large canister of some sorts near his feet that Buford couldn't make out in the fading light.

"Hold it at the top and bottom," Ethan ordered. Buford did as he was told and watched as Ethan duct taped the plate to the top and sealing it so no air could get in. "Place it on the ground," he ordered as he grabbed the canister. Buford now saw that it was a fire extinguisher. "Back up, this is gonna be cold."

"You're crazy," Buford told him as he backed several feet away. Ethan proceeded to blast the tray with the fire extinguisher while circling it. After two full rotations, he dropped the fire extinguisher and got down on his knees. He pulled out a knife and began slicing through the tape. When he was done, he removed the top as well as one of his gloves. He held the back of his hand over the cake and began moving it around the entire surface without ever touching it.

"It should be perfect now. Make sure Milly gets it to them," he ordered Buford. "I need a smoke," he muttered as he sat down and pulled out a cigarette and his lighter. Buford was already heading down quicker than he went up. Even though the plastic plate hadn't had any direct contact with the nitrogen, it was still cold enough to begin numbing his hands. When he reached the kitchen, he practically ran to Ethan's area to put down the cake. Once it was down, Milly was right behind him with two plates and a knife. In less than a minute, two beautiful slices of cake were sitting on a tray.

"David!" Milly called to the waiter. "Are Adyson and Baljeet done yet?"

"They are just about to finish."

"Great," she said, looking back at Buford for a moment with giant smile before returning to David. "I want you to bring these slices of cake to them, complements of the chef."

"Yes ma'am," he said as he picked up the tray and exited the kitchen. Milly turned around and hugged her boyfriend as tightly as she could.

"We did it!" she squealed happily. "Now tell me, what did Ethan do up there?"

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"That was amazing," Adyson sighed as she finished off the last of the Pasta Reef. She had never tasted anything so good and almost wished she could marry Milly just so she could eat like this every day.

"It was," Baljeet agreed. He had finished a few minutes ago and had been trying to hold a conversation while she was engrossed with the meal.

"I hope everything was satisfactory," David said to them. For some reason, he was carrying a tray.

"It was delicious," Adyson told him.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. One of our chefs actually sent some dessert to you, free of charge of course," he told them as reached up to grab a plate. Baljeet and Adyson smiled at each other, knowing Milly's hand was behind this. Their smiles quickly turned to looks of horror when they saw the slices of cake placed before them. They were both speechless as David took away their used dishes and carried them back to the kitchen.

"Milly indeed," Baljeet barely whispered. They both had two layered slices of cake in front of them. The cake was a strawberry pink while the icing was a very soft pink. Flowers and hearts of various pinks, reds, and purples decorated the cake. The curved part of the cake had been shaped so there were two curves and the corners were rounded, making both slices look like elongated hearts. Both of the teens' cheeks had gone red and they couldn't look each other in the eye.

"Umm," Adyson mumbled as she looked of the food, contemplating whether to eat it or throw it at Milly when she next saw her. This had been a really fun time, but now she was completely self-conscious.

"This cake is really good," Baljeet said as he swallowed a bite of it. "Try some; you'll like it."

"Okay," she said, suddenly feeling much more relaxed. It was just cake, though very good cake. Somehow, seeing Baljeet relaxed made her feel like there was nothing to worry about. After all, this was probably just Milly and Buford messing around with them. They continued their discussion like before in between bites of cake. Once again, they were too distracted by each other to notice Ferb and Gretchen watching them. Just then, Milly approached them with a tray in her hands.

"Your meal, monsieur and madam," she said in a rather corny French accent as she placed the plates before them.

"I have heavy suspicions that you played an important part in the dessert Baljeet and Adyson are currently partaking in," Gretchen told her friend.

"Ethan was the real chef in that. I just got him to do it," Milly explained.

"Encouraging Ethan to do much of anything is no small task," Gretchen defended. "Still, are you striving to play matchmaker between two friends yet again?"

"What can I say? I'm good at it," she responded as she glanced at both members of the couple before her. "Not to mention, I think we all want to Baljeet to be happy."

"I cannot claim to wish any other such fate upon him. However, whatever shall we do in regards to-"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to that," Milly interrupted.

"Acceptable," Gretchen said with a nod.

"Ahem," Ferb coughed, suddenly reminding the girls of his presence.

"I think I'll leave now. Have a pleasant meal," she said as she walked back towards the kitchen.

"Please set aside some cake," Ferb called after her before returning his attention to his girlfriend and trying to get her to forgive him for the gambling incident.

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Baljeet was consumed in thoughts as he turned onto Adyson's street. He had enjoyed the meal with her immensely, but now ever since the cake had been placed in front of him, he had been completely confused. The car ride home was quiet and awkward, but it now came time to say goodbye.

"Thanks for today, Baljeet. It was a lot of fun," she said as she exited the vehicle. Baljeet did the same, intending not to abandon everything he had learned from his father about courtesy.

"I had a lot of fun too," he responded. "Though that cake definitely surprised me."

"Me too. I guess Milly just wanted to have some fun," she said with a soft laugh.

"Adyson, I have a question," Baljeet said, already thinking he was saying something wrong.

"What is it?"

"Was this a date?" he asked, his face growing red again.

"Well," Adyson started, though she didn't know how to finish. It was true that she had enjoyed this night more than anything else in a long while, but she wasn't sure if it was a date. But she had never been on a date, so she had no experience to compare it to. "It might have been."

"Then I guess I should do this," he said as he turned to face her. She turned as well, unsure of what he meant. Without another word, he leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. Both of them went deep red as Baljeet retreated to his car Adyson fumbled to open the door.

"Adyson," he called to her from his car when she finally got the door open. She turned to see him, though she was incapable of looking him in the eye. "Let's do this again." She stared at him in sheer embarrassment before smiling back at him.

"Of course!"

* * *

><p>Truth be told, I had never planned to actually write the dinner, but after I read DasSchnabeltier's comment, this whole chapter just came to me. Thanks to all my reviewers for all they said. I also believe I should put out a Public Service Announcement: I neither support nor disapprove of smoking, gambling, or any other vice that has been or will be mentioned in this story. I don't judge people that do or don't do the things mentioned. I am merely trying to make my characters realistic by giving them real problems. So please don't believe that I am encouraging people to smoke or that I am insulting those that do, but just understand these things do happen. Thank you for wasting your time reading this.<p> 


	7. Single Singer

**The following note is unnecessary and it is advised that you skip it and get to the chapter.** Hey everybody. I'm actually talking at the top of the chapter this time. I finally got around to seeing if anyone else has wrote a story about this couple and, as it turns out, Freedom Fighter has. It's a good fun story that I have only one complaint about and I feel here is the best place to address it: Adyjeet? So I have decided, as the self-proclaimed King of the AdysonXBaljeet fandom, this couple will now and forever be known as Baldyson. Thank you and please hold your applause until the end of the chapter.

* * *

><p>Single Singer<p>

"He did WHAT!" Holly yelled from her place on Adyson's bed. Adyson was sitting on the floor gently petting Daisy.

"He kissed me on my forehead," Adyson said, glad she got out more than three words before Holly yelled this time.

"Oh," she sighed, flopping back down onto the bed. "And here I thought Baljeet was showing some initiative."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adyson asked, glaring at her friend. When Holly didn't respond, Adyson shut up and returned to petting Daisy. It had happened yesterday, but she could still remember the gentle feeling of Baljeet's lips pressing against her skin. The place where he had kissed felt warmer than the rest of her body, even after a shower and a night of restless sleep. Her face went red as the memory came rushing back to her.

"Addie, have you really never kissed anyone before?" Holly asked, though she had asked this question numerous times before.

"No," she answered, the same as every time before. Holly used to have trouble believing it, though seeing how she acted from a kiss on the forehead from someone she hadn't been hanging out with for too long, she began to believe her.

"You really need to grow up," Holly told her, earning herself an angry glare from Adyson. "All I'm saying is that I wasn't nearly this out of it after my first kiss with Irving, and that was an actual kiss."

"Sorry for being a child," Adyson answered, feeling quite angry towards her friend.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," Holly apologized. "All I'm sayin' is that if you're like this after a peck on the forehead, how're you gonna react when two actually kiss."

"Who said anything about me and Baljeet actually kissing?" she exclaimed, accidently hitting Daisy on the side in surprise. The dog jumped up and looked at Adyson as if to ask what she did wrong. "I'm sorry Daisy," she said as she resumed petting the now distressed dog.

"So you're saying you don't want to kiss him?" she asked slyly, raising only her right eyebrow.

"Well, I'm not saying it would be…completely…horrible," she said slowly, her embarrassment growing with each word. "I mean…it's just…I don't know!" she finally exclaimed as she fell onto the floor, her arm falling across her eyes. She laid there for a short while before speaking again. "Holly, why do you like Irving?"

"Why I like Irving…," she repeated, trailing off at the mention of her boyfriend. "Do you remember that day in sixth grade when he apologized to Phineas and Ferb and practically begged them to forgive him for what he had done?"

"How could I forget?" Adyson replied. Who could forget when everyone was getting together on the weekend only for Irving to drop to his knees and apologize?

"Well, afterwards I asked him why he apologized. He said it was because he had started watching them because, while they were nerds like him, they had always been the center of the group. He wanted to learn to be like them and began following them and recording them. It wasn't long until he forgotten his goal and got lost in the journey. One day, he woke up and realized what he had become: a crazed fanboy that had every aspect of his life revolve the actions of two people his age. So he stopped."

"So you like him because he's not obsessed with Phineas and Ferb?" Adyson asked, more confused about this than she had been about Baljeet."

"No, I like him because he's honest with not only the people around him, but also with himself. He was able to tell he was doing something wrong and didn't feel held back due to his pride in order to seek forgiveness. In fact, he's probably the most honest person I know."

"Hmm," Adyson mumbled as she thought it over. It was true that even when they were younger, the one thing Holly could never stand was a lie, but it seemed strange that that was the only thing she would look for in a boyfriend. Adyson hung out with Irving at times, so it wasn't like she didn't know that he had other good traits, but she was still having a hard time understanding Holly's reason.

"There are other things, but they're the type of things that make my heart skip a beat and bore the hell out of everyone else," she finished. "Point is, what makes me like Irving, what makes Katie like Django, what makes Ginger like Christina, and vice versa on all of those, are all very different things."

"I really wish this was easier to figure out," Adyson pouted.

"We all do," Holly told her as she got up and stretched. "How about we take a walk? It might help you clear your head."

"That sounds good," Adyson agreed as she stood up herself, much to the disappointment of Daisy. "Got anywhere in mind?"

"How about Danny's? I heard he's got some new music lately," she told her as she pulled on a light jacket.

"Sounds good," Adyson responded as she put on a similar garment. The two went on their way, leaving Daisy behind despite her protests. Danny's was around twenty minutes away, so the friends had plenty of time to talk about nothing in particular. For once, Holly let her be about Baljeet, much to Adyson's surprise and relief. When they reached the store, they could hear music coming from inside like usual. When they entered, they saw a small crowd. Danny's store had expanded over the years, now including a CD and record section, many more instruments, and even a small stage in the back for the occasional performance. The people were around the stage at the moment. It seemed like the song be played was nearing the end. It was being played solely by a piano, but it wasn't a traditional piano song.

_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating__  
><em>_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me__  
><em>_Til then I walk alone_

It didn't take Adyson more than a moment to realize it was Cameron playing. When he finished, the crowd applauded quite a bit for the boy. He stood up and gave a goofy bow before hopping down from the stage. He glanced around the store before his eyes landed on Holly an Adyson. He quickly weaved through the dispersing crowd over to the girls.

"Hey," he said to them, but he was obviously directing it more towards Adyson than Holly.

"Nice to see you Cameron," Adyson answered. "I can't say I expected you to be playing Green Day."

"Love 'em. What're you guys doin' here?"

"Adyson needed to clear her head, and I figured a walk and some music might be a good solution," Holly explained.

"What's on your mind? Maybe I can help," Cameron told them. Adyson starting opening her mouth, but closed it as her cheeks became flushed.

"Guy problems," Holly told him. Adyson looked at Cameron as Holly said this and thought she saw a look of anger flash across his face, but she dismissed it.

"Do I know the guy?" he asked, though Adyson seemed to ignore him.

"It doesn't matter. It's no big deal. And you," she said sternly, turning to face Holly, "aren't going to name names." With that, she walked over to the CD section. Holly and Cameron stayed behind.

"So, who is it?" Cameron asked Holly as soon as Adyson was out of earshot.

"She told me not to tell you," she explained as she shook her head. "Let's just say…she might be falling for someone."

"And that someone ain't me," Cameron said, more to himself than Holly. His voice was drained of all its usual humor. He turned towards the CD section to look at the subject of the conversation.

"I told you waiting around was a bad idea," Holly said.

"I thought I had time," he responded. "Guess I can't afford to waste time anymore."

"Cameron, if I could choose between you or him, I'd pick you in heartbeat. But I'm on Adyson's side, so I'm not going be helping you," she told flatly. "All I can say is good luck."

"Thanks," he said as he walked not towards Adyson, but towards the stage with the keyboard still set up on it. Holly watched with a confused expression. When Cameron jumped up and walked over to the keyboard, she knew Baljeet officially had some competition.

"Danny, can I play another song?" he asked the owner who nodded in response. People were already gathering around to watch.

"What is he doing?" Adyson asked no one as she looked up from the music she was looking through.

"Declaring war," Holly answered. Adyson spun around; having thought the girl was at another part of the store. Adyson gave her a puzzled look before Cameron began playing. When she looked at him, he was looking her straight in the eye.

_You´re better than the best__  
><em>_I´m lucky just to linger in your light__  
><em>_Cooler then the flip side of my pillow that´s right__  
><em>_Completely unaware__  
><em>_Nothing can compare to where you send me__  
><em>_Lets me know that it´s ok__  
><em>_Yeah it´s ok__  
><em>_And the moments when my good times start to fade_

_You make me smile like the sun__  
><em>_Fall outta bed__  
><em>_Sing like a bird__  
><em>_Dizzy in my head__  
><em>_Spin like a record__  
><em>_Crazy on a Sunday night_

_You make me dance like a fool__  
><em>_Forget how to breathe__  
><em>_Shine like gold__  
><em>_Buzz like a bee__  
><em>_Just the thought of you can drive me wild__  
><em>_Oh, you make me smile_

_Even when you´re gone__  
><em>_Somehow you come along__  
><em>_Just like a flower poking through the sidewalk crack and just like that__  
><em>_You steal away the rain and just like that_

_You make me smile like the sun__  
><em>_Fall outta bed__  
><em>_Sing like a bird__  
><em>_Dizzy in my head__  
><em>_Spin like a record__  
><em>_Crazy on a Sunday night_

_You make me dance like a fool__  
><em>_Forget how to breathe__  
><em>_Shine like gold__  
><em>_buzz like a bee__  
><em>_Just the thought of you can drive me wild__  
><em>_Oh, you make me smile_

_Don´t know how I lived without you__  
><em>_'Cuz every time that I get around you__  
><em>_I see the best of me inside your eyes__  
><em>_You make me smile__  
><em>_You make me dance like a fool__  
><em>_Forget how to breathe__  
><em>_Shine like gold__  
><em>_Buzz like a bee__  
><em>_Just the thought of you can drive me wild_

_You make me smile like the sun__  
><em>_Fall outta bed__  
><em>_Sing like bird__  
><em>_Dizzy in my head__  
><em>_Spin like a record__  
><em>_Crazy on a Sunday night_

_You make me dance like a fool__  
><em>_Forget how to breathe__  
><em>_Shine like gold__  
><em>_Buzz like a bee__  
><em>_Just the thought of you can drive me wild__  
><em>_Oh, you make me smile__  
><em>_Oh, you make me smile__  
><em>_Oh, you make me smile_

The crowd burst out in applause as he finished. He gave another goofy bow with a smile plastered on his face. Danny gave him a nod of approval before returning to one of his customers. When Cameron looked around for Adyson, she was gone. Even Holly was no where to be seen. He didn't know Adyson had run out moments before he finished and Holly had followed her.

"Addie, wait up!" Holly called out. She had no way of keeping up with the other girl, so she just hoped she could hear her. Adyson slowed down enough for Holly to reach her by sprinting. "What was that?" she yelled at her as both friends came to a halt.

"I- I didn't know what to do," she said stuttered. "This is all happening too fast."

"Addie," Holly said gently as she laid an arm across her friend's shoulders. "Cameron didn't mean any harm."

"I know, but-but- I just don't know what to do," Adyson told her, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears.

* * *

><p>Woo, I'm down here too! I finally got this chapter done. If anyone cares, the song Cameron sings is Smile by Uncle Kracker. Sorry it took so long, but I was having a lot of trouble writing a section of this chapter that ended up being cut out, so yeah. I'm really looking forward to the next chapter, but it will take some time since I'm going on vacation to beautiful Seattle. Expect delays. So please review this chapter and help me make the next chapter even better. Finally, enjoyI hope you enjoyed Phineas & Ferb Across the Second Dimension in Fabulous 2D.


	8. The Final Game

Sorry for the time it took to update this chapter, but it's more than double the length of of any of the chapter's before. From now, updates will be sporadic since I'm starting college soon and have many things to do. Don't worry though, Baljeet and Adyson still have a story to be told and I won't leave it unfinished. Until than, this is Zoakdo saying "I'm a Badger!"

* * *

><p>The Final Game<p>

"How did you ever convince me to come here?" Adyson grumbled as she wrapped her arms around herself. Even though it was early November, a recent cold front was already making the temperature approach freezing.

"You said you owed me after you aced the last test," Baljeet replied.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you would ask me to go to a football game with you. Why don't we watch paint dry? There'll be more dynamic characters in that," she complained. They were currently sitting in their seats in the bleachers, very close to the field. They had a spectacular view of the field, but that wasn't lifting Adyson's spirits in the slightest. She at least took solace in the fact that Baljeet didn't seem to want to talk about the kiss on the forehead. That plus Cameron's song that she could only take as a confession had done nothing but confuse her further. As hard as it was for her to admit it, it would be nice to not think for a while and watch some muscle-heads try to kill each other over a leather ball. That proved to be quite difficult a few minutes ago when Cameron had led the national anthem on the field.

"I'm still shocked that you wanted to come here. You never seemed like the football type," she said to her companion.

"Well, Buford has this rule that my attendance to all of his games is mandatory. He wouldn't let me live if I skipped out on the regional finals," Baljeet explained. "Somewhere along the line, I began to appreciate the strategy that needs to be used in every play."

"It's a bunch of dolts fighting over a ball. Not a lot of strategy there if you ask me," Adyson responded, not noticing the dirty looks some of the people around were giving her.

"There's a lot more than you'd expect. They need to think about what kind of plays need to be used and when, who are the key members of the opposing team, how to respond to their plays, and other things of the like."  
>"I'll take your word for it," Adyson said to him, though it was obvious that she wasn't convinced. Before they could talk about something else, a voice boomed across the entire field.<p>

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to regional finals!" the announcer roared, causing applause to erupt from the crowd. "Today's game is between the Danville Huskies and the Park City Leopards! Winner goes to State, loser goes home! Today this isn't a playing field, but a battlefield!" he cried, making the crowd explode into cheers once again. Amongst the entire Danville Raiders side, Adyson was the only one not bursting with enthusiasm.

"What's the big deal?" she asked Baljeet, though she found it hard to actually care about the game.

"We've won the last two state championships, but the Leopards beat us in an exhibition match earlier this year. Not to mention we beat them here the last two years in a row, so it's something of a grudge match."

"And when you say we, you mean them, right?" she asked, clear now that she was trying to be a killjoy.

"Exactly," Baljeet answered, unfazed by her attitude. Before she made another comment, the players were taking the field. The Leopards' uniforms were gold and black while the Huskies' were grey and purple. Starting with the Leopards followed by the Raiders, each player was listed by name, number, and position. He went through the entire Leopards' line-up and most of the Huskies' but stopped after going through most of the players, creating a silence that seemed out of place in a football field.

"Some of you fear him, some of you hate him, and some of you revere him," the announcer said, his voice growing with each word. "But no matter how you feel about him, everyone knows him. Football fans, I give you Buford "The Titan" Van Stromm!" he announced. Immediately, the Danville side cheered for the team's ace while the Park City side booed and hissed at the player. Adyson was almost shocked when she saw him. Sure, Buford was a big guy, but under all the pads, he was massive. With his number seventy-one plastered on his back, he looked like a walking tank.

"'The Titan?'" she asked Baljeet over the roar of the crowd.

"You'll see," he told her. She shrugged and returned her attention to the game to see the Huskies were preparing for a kick. There was some great distance on the kick and the Huskies were able to take down the return on the Leopards thirty yard line. After this, the line-up changed. Now she was seeing a setup similar to the ones she had seen a couple of times on TV and in pictures. Buford was right of center of the defensive line, so she made sure to watch him to see what justified calling him "The Titan." When the ball was hiked, she understood.

Buford charged into the opposing line. The lineman facing him seemed to barely halt Buford's progress. He was tossed aside like the lightweight he was compared to this player. Buford sacked their quarterback almost immediately.

"Wow," Adyson breathed. She knew Buford was strong, but that was just ridiculous.

"Keep watching," he told her. Much to her expectation, Buford did the same thing on the next play. But on the play after that one, she decided he earned his name. This time, instead of tackling the other lineman, Buford pushed him back and, in a single motion, tackled both him and the quarterback. The resulting shock sent the ball out of the quarterback's grip. Almost immediately, one of the Huskies swooped down and retrieved the ball. With none of the Leopards between him and the end zone, he put the Huskies up on the board less than two minutes into the game. The rest of the first half continued much in the same manner. Buford's role on the line allowed him to dominate the Leopards, causing possession to change three more times due to fumbles. When they were on offense, Buford rested on the bench and let their offensive ace take over. Zack Foster, the same teen that ran Zack's Hand out of the old science room, was the Huskies' brilliant tight end. At the end of the first half, the Huskies were leading forty-seven to thirteen. The halftime show wasn't much, but it was entertaining. The second half was almost a repeat of the first. The Leopards were holding off Buford better than before, but he still broke through several times. The final score was a whopping eighty-one to twenty.

"That was amazing," Adyson told Baljeet as they returned to his car. "I mean, he broke through even when they had him double-teamed. I couldn't believe I was watching an actual game."

"The Leopards are a more lightweight than most other teams, choosing to focus on speed rather than power," Baljeet explained. "While their weaker linemen can usually hold off average players to give their running backs enough time to get past, they just can't compare to Buford's ability."

"Is he really that much stronger than them? He was plowing through them."

"It's not just his strength, though that's a huge advantage. His size also lets him bear down on his opponents. He's been taking judo for years, so he knows how to both keep his balance and throw off his opponent's balance," Baljeet told her. "He spent some time training with the track team's sprinters to develop his takeoff speed. Also, there's a school in a town a couple hours away for sumo. He goes there once in a while to practice taking off and hitting the other linemen before they even can reach him."

"Impressive," Adyson said in response, her sarcastic tone from earlier completely gone. "I guess he really is serious about football."

"Serious and good. He's hasn't just been scouted by colleges, but there are professional teams looking to recruit him as soon as they can. He's got a real career waiting for him after college," he explained to her.

"That name 'Titan' really suits him," she commented, wondering who had a spark of intelligence for a moment to name him that.

"He's strong enough to match Ares in a fistfight. But enough about him. I noticed you seemed to actually enjoy yourself," he said with a sly smile. During the second half, she actually joined in the cheering and booing of the crowd.

"You might've converted me. It's a lot more fun in real life," she replied. "I've only ever seen it on a screen before."

"How about watching it on a screen with me next weekend? The State championship should be something impressive."

"It's a date," she answered jokingly, but she regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. The two teens avoided each other's eyes as memories of the night of Wolfe's returned to them. One awkward car ride and several failed attempts to start a conversation later, Adyson was dropped off at her house and Baljeet was on the way to his. Much to the relief of their hearts, there was no repeat of the previous event.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"For the last time, the exponent isn't removed completely. It's only reduced by one," Baljeet told his friend/student in his Spartan tone. She may have aced the last test, but it seemed like she had forgotten everything he had taught her before. He had to spend more time with her everyday trying to make sure she remembered everything in order to pass the class.

"How do you keep all these rules straight? Humans weren't meant to do these sorts of things," she said, falling back on her usual excuse.

"If you really felt that, you wouldn't have taken the class in the first place," he told her. "Now, when deriving a multiplication polynomial-" he started, but he was cut off by his cellphone. Adyson gave a sigh of relief as Baljeet pulled his phone out to see Milly's name displayed. She rarely ever called him, usually letting Buford contact him.

"Hey Milly," he said into the receiver.

"Baljeet, I need your help," she said, practically in hysterics. Even over the phone, it was clear she was struggling to keep herself together. "Please, you're the only one I can ask right now," she begged.

"Milly, calm down," Baljeet told her, becoming panicked himself. Adyson perked up, curious over what was happening. "Alright, now can you tell me what's wrong?"

"Come over. Bring your car," she answered before he heard a dial tone go off.

"Milly. Milly. Milly!" he yelled into the receiver, though he knew the attempts were futile. "Sorry Adyson, but we're going to have to cut this off here," Baljeet told her as he pocketed his phone. "I need to go help Milly."

"Is she okay?" Adyson asked, worried for her former Fireside Troop member.

"I don't know. She told me to come with my car," he explained. He glanced at his watch to see it was already six on a Friday night. Wolfe's was at one of the busiest times of the week, making Baljeet's worry only grow more.

"What are we waiting for?" Adyson asked as she grabbed her coat. Baljeet opened his mouth to object, but decided not to. If he had learned anything about Adyson since he started hanging out with her, it was how stubborn she was. If he tried to stop her, he would end up losing and Milly would have to wait longer.

"Let's go," he responded. Soon, they were on the road testing how fast over the speed limit one could go without attracting the attention of every police officer in the city. It didn't take Baljeet long to reach Wolfe's, but by the look on Milly's face, he was very late getting here. She was waiting outside the restaurant with Ethan at her side. At the sight of his car, they both ran up to vehicle and flanked it. They opened up the back doors and entered the backseats.

"What's going on? Baljeet asked them, clearly worried for the two. Ethan's face was much darker than usual and Milly looked like she had been crying for quite a while but recently stopped.

"Do you know how to get to the capital?" Ethan asked, receiving a nod from the driver in response. "Buford's there in the hospital. We need to go."

Over the next three hours, Baljeet made his way towards the capital with Ethan filling him in on what he knew in between comforting his sobbing sister. Buford was in the capital for the state championship. After the last play of their semi-final earlier today, Buford collapsed on the field and couldn't stand up. He was brought to the hospital where they performed some tests. They called his mother who was furiously busy at the time. She called the Wolfes, but they were also busy. They only had one car that Alpha needed, so he told them to find a ride there and call them when they found out what had happened.

"I can't believe she wouldn't go see her own son," Adyson grumbled after Ethan finished his explanation.

"It makes sense," Baljeet retorted. He had been quiet throughout Ethan's entire explanation, but Adyson could see how desperate his expression had become. "She doesn't make much money. Missing even a single paycheck could put both her and Buford in some serious trouble."

"Still…" she trailed off. She understood their point, but it didn't feel right. She stared out at the fading light over the highway and wondered what could possibly be wrong with Buford as Milly sniffles became the only sound in the entire vehicle. For the rest of the ride, no one said much of anything. It was a little past nine when Baljeet pulled into the hospital's parking lot. The four companions were out and running for the hospital. Inside, Ethan talked to the nurse since he was the oldest of the group. After several minutes, he returned to the three with a downcast expression.

"They're calling his mother to make sure we're the ones she sent to see him," he explained. "And honestly, we're lucky they're doing that instead of just refusing us."

"I guess dating someone for four years amounts to nothing for these people," Milly complained, her voice still shaking. Twenty miles or so back, Milly's sadness had started coming out as anger, proving she was still losing it.

"It shouldn't take long now," Baljeet consoled, placing a hand on her back. "In a few minutes, we'll get to see him."

"What could have happened? You don't think he got hurt did you?" she asked, her panic returning.

"No one short of a pro could hurt Buford. He probably caught a fever, didn't tell anyone, and over-exerted himself on the field," Baljeet half joked. When Milly gave him a small smile and actually giggled a little, he felt worlds better.

"If that's the case, he'll wish he'd been injured," Milly replied. This short banter seemed to relax everyone around them. They were all finally calming down and realized that this was probably just an overreaction. That's when the nurse approached them.

"I have just confirmed it with his mother. You may visit him," she told them. She led them to an elevator and up to the fourth floor. From there, it was a short walk to a room with a fresh nameplate that read 'Van Stromm.' Milly's shaky calm was shattered when she saw this and bolted for the door. Ehtan and Baljeet were close behind with Adyson trying to maintain some sense of calm.

"Buford!" she cried as she burst into the room. Inside was the average hospital room with a television, a bed, a side table, and a few chairs. Buford was laying in the bed in a white hospital gown. Sitting beside him was Zack, both of them looking completely broken. Milly stopped midstride at the sight of the boys. No matter her fears, she had been expecting Buford to greet her with a smile and a stupid comment like he always did.

"Milly," Buford said to her seconds after she had yelled, only then registering her presence. "You came."

"Of course I did," she said back as she closed the short distance between her and his side. No one in the room understood how desperately she wanted wrap her arms around his neck as he gave her one of the bear hugs he only gave her. Now, she had no idea what was about to happen. Baljeet, Ethan, and Adyson hung back, not wanting to disturb the moment between the couple.

"Looks like there's a crowd," a new voice said from the doorway. Entering the room was a man with dark skin and a lab coat that had a nametag that read "Dr. Tyrone Holmes.' In his hands was a clipboard holding several sheets of paper. "The test results just came back. Would you like to hear them in private?"

"They'll find out anyway," Buford answered, his voice devoid of all emotion. The new arrivals looked fearful while Zack remained grim.

"Fair enough," Dr. Holmes said. He flipped to the third sheet on the board before he began speaking. "As we suspected, you have a case of advanced Scoliosis. Further X-Rays also revealed that your bones have completed fusing. Due to this, the brace solution we suggested earlier will be useless. Our only option now would be surgery."

"Wait, what?" Milly asked, tears building at the corners of her eyes. "What does he have?"

"Scoliosis," the doctor repeated. "It is a condition that causes the spine to curve more than what is usual for the body. Due to Mr. Van Stromm's large muscles, it is very difficult to tell the difference between his back and the backs of people without the condition."

"And you can't cure it?" she asked him as the first tears began rolling down her cheeks.

"Unfortunately, he has finished growing. The only cure we have now is to surgically implant a metal rod into his back to cause straightening."

"That can't happen," she told him, her voice clearly showing her desperation. "He needs to play football."

"That won't happen. It will be weeks before he can walk after the surgery."

"No!" she yelled this time, actually stomping her foot. "If that happens, then- then-"

"Milly, just stop," Buford said. She spun around and glared at him, somehow becoming furious with him from all of this.

"No, there has to be a way! They can't do this to you!" she cried out. "They can't…" she sobbed as she fell to her knees at his side. When she looked up, she saw that Buford, the Titan, the bully, her protector, her boyfriend, was silently crying along with her.

The doctor left them alone after that. The entire group gathered to listen to Buford and Zack explain everything that had happened up to this point. It turned out Buford had been feeling the pain in his back for a longtime, but he always assumed it was due to the intense workouts he did.

"You know," he told them as he finished, a sick humor coming to his tone. "I always assumed when I had to quit football, it would be because of an injury. As it turns out, I would've gotten this whether or not I played. I guess this is what you would call doomed from the start," he told with a half-hearted laugh that no one returned.

"I should've noticed," Milly sobbed. She had taken up to sitting next to him with her hand grasping his. "I thought your back looked different from my dad's but I never said anything. I'm so sorry Buford."

"It's not your fault," he comforted. "I should've had it checked out, but I never did."

"At least you can recover Zack said to his friend.

"But no more football," he sighed. Everyone was amazed he was holding himself together as well as he was. He had lost what he had been working towards for years. "I'm really sorry this happened before the finals."

"Don't worry about it," Zack said with a forced smile that almost seemed genuine. "The Jamestown Raptors are pushover. We can win without you."

"You better," Buford returned with his own smile that looked like it was at least partly real. Everyone gathered was trying flimsily to put a positive spin on the situation, but it was proving more difficult than they expected.

"Excuse me," the nurse from the before said from the doorway. "Visiting hours are over. You'll have to leave now," she told them. It was just past nine-thirty, so it made sense they wouldn't want people around right now.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Baljeet told him as everyone else gave a similar goodbye.

"I promise I'll be back," Milly said as gently as she could despite her still panicked emotions. She leaned in to give him a gentle kiss before reluctantly pulling.

"I'll miss you," Buford called after her as she walked out of sight. The four found their way back downstairs and, much to their surprise, saw Alpha sitting in the waiting room. Milly rushed to her father while Ethan followed closely behind. Milly seemed like she was about to cry again, but she didn't. It was obvious now she had used up all of her tears. Alpha held his daughter similarly to the way her boyfriend always did. Ethan placed his hand on her back. Baljeet and Adyson stood back, knowing it wasn't their place to interfere. However, Adyson was surprised when she felt a hand brush against hers. She looked to Baljeet to see he was looking at the family, but it was indeed his hand. She took his hand within hers and found solace when his entire body seemed to relax from her touch.

"Baljeet," Alpha said after a few minutes of silence with his family as he unwound his arms from his daughter's. "Can you follow me in your car?" he asked. Baljeet nodded as he released Adyson's hand, much to the disappointment of both of them. The Wolfes went to Alpha's car while Baljeet and Adyson went to the vehicle they had arrived him. Zack parted with them there, deciding to job to wherever the rest of the team was staying. Baljeet followed the man out of the parking lot and down several streets for over ten minutes. When they had finally stopped, they were outside a hotel. All five of them went up to the front desk where Alpha received the keys to two rooms he seemed to have already reserved.

"None of us are in any shape to drive back to Danville," the giant of a man explained as he handed a keycard to Indian boy. "Usually, I'd say boys in one room, girls in another, but I need to talk to Milly and Ethan. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," he answered.

"Good. Room five twenty-eight," Alpha told them. Both rooms were on the fifth floor, so they were able to ride the elevator together, though it was a tensely silent ride. Once they reached their destination, they parted ways with each group heading for their respective rooms. When Baljeet and Adyson entered the room they would be sharing, the parts of them that still cared were relieved to find there were two beds.

"I'm going to take a shower," Adyson told him as she moved for the bathroom. Baljeet walked over to the nearest of the two beds, kicked off his shoes, and collapsed onto it. Despite his exhaustion, he could tell he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. When he heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, he tried to focus on it to relax himself. This worked until his mind slipped from the water to what was under the water. He shook his head, clearing himself of those thoughts. When the images were banished, he found he was furious with himself. He had no time to be thinking of things like this with Buford the way he was. Ten minutes after the flow of water began, it stopped. Four minutes after that, Adyson walked out into the room. She was wearing the same clothes as before except without her socks and shoes. Her hair lacked its usual look and instead all of it was free and tucked back behind her ears. A towel was draped across her shoulders so her hair wouldn't soak her back. When she passed, Baljeet couldn't help but notice the scent of shampoo that wafted from her. By this time, he had turned over so he now laid on his back.

"Do you want me to hit the lights?" she asked him, more life in her voice than before but still quite upset.

"No, I'm not sleeping for a while," he replied. "Actually, I can't sleep for a while."

"I feel the same," she informed him, her tone similar to something like relief. She sat on the other bed, but didn't say another word. It wasn't long before the silence became to much for either of the to handle.

"Can we talk?" he finally asked her.

"About what?"

"Anything."

"You start," she told him, turning towards him and crossing her legs. Baljeet remained laying down but turned his head so he could see her.

"Thanks for coming along. I don't think I could've handled this without you."

"You weren't the only one worried. I'm still concerned for Milly."

"She's got Ethan and Alpha with her. They'll calm her down," he explained, though he couldn't deny his own worries about the girl. He was taking it hard, but he couldn't imagine what Milly was feeling inside.

"Buford's lucky to have all of you. Honestly, I'm surprised you still hang out with him," she said. When his expression changed, she was worried she had something horrible, but it seemed like he was instead trying to find the right words for something.

"When I first moved here, I didn't know anyone. I was terrified I wouldn't make any friends. It was two weeks after we moved in that I met Buford. He was big, strong, and mean. He picked on me for everything, even if it was something that he did. Soon after, I met Phineas and Ferb. That led to me meeting everyone else. Still Buford picked on me. He insulted me, hurt me, broke my things and, most of all," he paused, taking a quaking breath, "he made me feel needed."

"Baljeet, are you a masochist?" she asked him, only half joking.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's just," he paused again, making it clear that he wanted her to know something that was very painful for him to express. "He didn't treat anyone the way he treated me. It made me feel special. No matter how much this sounds like a case of Stockholm Syndrome, he made me feel wanted.

"But earlier today, seeing the boy who used to bully me and is now my best friend, reduced to someone that couldn't even sit up, it was impossible to believe," he finished. Adyson stared at him, more than a little surprised. She, like everyone else, thought that Baljeet had been too scared to stand up to him. She wanted to object, but she couldn't deny that Holly, someone who was rarely kind with her words, was one of her closest friends. All the same, who was she to judge what was right or wrong with relationships?

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you then," she apologized. Baljeet actually looked amused at this notion.

"It's not like you knew. Not to mention," he said as he turned his entire body to face her, "you're here for me now."

Adyson stopped breathing for a moment. She stared at him, expecting him to stutter and become flustered, but he held his gaze. His words revealed a weight that had grown in her heart recently that she had yet to notice, but also one she felt certain she could carry.

"Only because you'll be there for me," she said back with something of a knowing smile.

"It means more than you can know to hear that," he replied. They continued talking about anything to raise their spirits and had some level of success. Eventually, they drifted off into sleep; neither knew that they both had dreams of each other.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Hello," Baljeet grumbled into his cellphone. He had just been awoken by its ring and had yet to even open his eyes.

"You're up," he heard Milly say on the line.

"As of five seconds ago," he informed her in his sleepy tone. "What do you need?"

"Meet us at the hospital at ten. We'll be in Buford's room," she finished with the click of an ending call. Baljeet dropped the phone back onto the bedside table and pulled himself up, groaning as he stretched his muscles. He glanced at the girl sleeping in the other bed to see she was still out cold. Content to leave her for a while, he left the room but made sure to take the keycard with him. He left the hotel and went looking for the nearest gas station or corner store. Once he found one he purchased a pack of cigarettes and a disposable lighter. By the time he left the establishment, he was already lighting up the first one.

"Damn sin tax," he grumbled. He knew it was good for the economy and had supported it when he was younger, but now he hated it for how much it had cost him. He walked around until his phone read eight-thirty and he decided it was time to return to see if Adyson wanted to get some breakfast before they went to the hospital. As he thought about breakfast, he suddenly became of the gnawing hunger in his stomach that had come from eating nothing since lunch at school yesterday. He walked as fast as he could for the room, but failed six times in a row to get the keycard to open the door. He was about to try a seventh time when the door opened. Standing before him was Adyson looking slightly more disheveled than yesterday, but wearing the same clothes like he was.

"You could've left or something," she scolded, though not in the least bit playful.

"I'm sorry about that," he apologized as he moved to enter the room. Adyson didn't move to let him in and instead stuck out her hand to stop him. They remained still for a moment before Adyson plucked the card from his grasp, lightly pushed him away and shut the door in his face.

"Adyson," Baljeet said as he knocked on the door after overcoming his surprise. When no response came, he tried again and a third time but that also proved to be fruitless. He found himself leaning against the wall nearby when Adyson finally came out, carrying everything both of them had brought.

"Here you go,"" she said as she handed him everything he had left in the room. She didn't even make eye contact as she walked towards the elevator.

"Um," he started as he followed her, confused in a way he was becoming quite used to around Adyson. "What did I do this time?"

"You stink," she answered. For a moment, he was worried that she meant that somehow he had done something to make her hate him. But when he recognized the weight of the cigarette pack and lighter in his pocket, he realized she meant that literally.

"Sorry, but it had been over a day since I last had one," he explained, joining her on the elevator.

"And I guess you're too weak-minded to deal with that for a while," she practically hissed back.

"Yeah, I guess I am," he replied defiantly. "If I didn't get a smoke, I might start acting like you." She didn't snap back like she usually would. Instead, she sighed.

"Sorry," she told him. "It's been a long fifteen hours."

"Yes, yes it has," he answered, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's get some food it us before we rip each other's throats out. We don't want to give Milly two more patients to visit."

"Best idea you've all day," she responded, signaling towards the cigarettes in his pocket with her eyes. He nodded in agreement as the elevator came to a stop on the ground floor. There, Baljeet turned in his key to the woman behind the counter that had a quizzical expression when she saw who he had roomed with, but she had enough sense as a member of the service industry to keep her questions to herself. Afterwards, they found a nearby diner to have breakfast in. Both of them were famished. Baljeet had two orders of pancakes and several glasses of milk while Adyson had eggs, sausage, and bacon with her pancakes and two cups of coffee. After Baljeet paid a bill more expensive than that for the average meal shared by two people, the teens were feeling significantly better. Their newly obtained good moods were quickly dampened when they realized they now needed to return to the hospital to meet up with the Wolfes.

The car ride there was almost completely silent, Baljeet and Adyson still consumed with their thoughts. They checked in at the hospital and headed up to Buford's room to find that they were actually there before the others. Buford was lying in his bed, not sleeping but resting. He opened his eyes and turned slightly to see who was entering.

"Morning Buford," Baljeet greeted.

"Still lazing around, I see," Adyson commented, bringing a smile to the patient's face.

"You know me," he responded. His face held the joy created by the joke for only moments longer before returning to the same somber expression he had been wearing yesterday.

"What's on your mind?" Baljeet asked, pulling up a chair next to the head of the bed.

"This surgery," he started, "I have no idea how we're going to pay for it. My mom barely makes enough to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads."

"There's always another way," Baljeet comforted. He couldn't help but rmember that day in their freshman year when Buford had confided in him that his only real reason for playing football was so he could make enough money so his mom would never have to work again. Now, that dream was a far off delusion.

"I wish. Our insurance doesn't cover it and if use up our savings, that means no heat this winter," he said, his hopelessness apparent in every word. Baljeet was already figuring out how much he could get for his car.

"I guess that means we'll pay for it," a new voice told them. The massive frame coming inside the small room along with the small quakes created by his steps announced Alpha's presence even more so than his booming voice. Milly was beside him while Ethan slipped in behind them both like a shadow.

"I can't make you do that," Buford rejected. Milly and Alpha, in a show of their shared genes, shook their heads at the same time.

"But we are. Think of it as an advance on the salary you'll be making at Wolfe's in a year," he told the teen. All three of the original residents of the room wore shocked expressions. "You'll make a damn good chef, I can promise that."

"Please Buford. They want to do this for you," another new voice explained. A woman in her forties was there. She was dressed in old clothes worn in a way that made it clear that she didn't give a damn what you thought of her but still looked stylish. Baljeet instantly placed her as Beatrice Van Stromm, Buford's mother.

"Also, you'll be living in your room at our house," Alpha told him. "What, you think you won't need help while you're recuperating? Not to mention, this way Milly won't make such flimsy excuses when she sneaks out to see you. I'm not as oblivious as you see to think I am," Alpha finished. Everyone in the room was reacting to what he had just said with a different reaction. Milly was embarrassed, Ethan was amused, Beatrice was hopeful, Baljeet and Adyson were surprised, but Buford was overwhelmed.

"How can you even want to do this for me?"

"Buford, if you weren't already injured, I'd smack you for that one," Alpha told him simply and seriously.

"We all agreed this is what we were going to do," Ethan added. "None of us needed any convincing."

"Buford, all of us care about you. We want you to get better, and we want to be with you when you do," Milly finished as she reached for her boyfriend's hand. A warm silence filled the room as Buford began sniffling and tears began rolling down his cheeks.

"Thank you so much. Thanks to all of you," he sobbed out as he gripped Milly's hand as tight as he could without hurting her.

"And if you still think this is too much, just think of it as an advance dowry," Alpha joked as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, bringing the young couple to blush deep red.

"Dad," Milly protested as pushed him with her free hand.

"I could have a worse brother-in-law," Ethan joked.

"Not you too," Milly laughed at her brother. Baljeet was smiling himself, sure this was one of the first times he had ever heard Ethan crack a joke.

Soon after, Baljeet and Adyson showed themselves out. They promised Buford they would visit him when he got back to Danville and head back to the Indian boy's car. "It looks like his future is just as bright as before," Adyson commented.

"A future of a star football player with an adoring public and million dollar paychecks traded for one as a chef with a close, loving family," Baljeet stated. "I disagree with you."

"You think he's got it worse?" Adyson blurted out.

"No, his future isn't as bright as before. It's a thousand times brighter."

"I guess you're right," Adyson smiled at him. "He and Milly are lucky they love each other so much. I wonder what it would be like to have someone like that in your life."

"You'll find out one day, I can promise that," he replied. For now, on this late Saturday morning in this car with two teens unsure about everything in their lives, that was enough.


	9. Stone's Challenge

Stone's Challenge

"'Olly, 'elp me out," Cameron called to the dark-skinned girl who was heading towards the cafeteria. Both of them had lunch now along with Irving, Katie, Christina, and Adyson.

"Nice to see you too, Cameron. Oh, you want my help? Sure, since you asked so nicely," she answered his unasked questions.

"Yeah, all that," he said, his words slurred as they always were. "I gotta know; did Adyson really stay in an 'otel wit' a guy?" he asked, both annoyed and worried. Holly bit her lip as she wondered about what to say. When the Huskies lost the final game to the Raptors seventeen to twenty, everyone was quick to pin the blame on Buford, the star lineman that wasn't there. When his friends tried to defend him by explaining that it was unavoidable, they said he should've fought through and ignored it. Buford had been disliked by many members of the football team, so none of them had stood up for him. Even Zack backed down; claiming a puddle of truth loses to a sea of lies. When Holly had confronted Adyson about all of this, she explained the situation to her, but accidently revealed that she had shared a room with Baljeet the night she went up there. Holly wanted to tell him the truth, but was worried about what he might do.

"Where did you hear that?" was the best she could come up with to divert the conversation.

"I overheard Christina tellin' Ginger," he told her. "Is it true?"

"Yeah," Holly said after sighing inwardly. She hated lying and even if she did, it was only a matter of hours if not minutes before he found out the truth. "It's not like they did anything."

"I know. Baljeet ain't got the courage to try somethin'," he replied.

"How did you know it was Baljeet?"

"She thinks she might like someone not long after she started takin' t' 'Jeet. I'm not an idiot," he explained. "Still, damn."

"You were the one that waited so long," she told him, quite apathetic to his plight. They walked through the lunch line together, Cameron quiet as he thought through something. Holly had known about Cameron liking Adyson since last year and had tried to encourage him to ask her out, but now he was paying the price for his inactivity. When they finally got through, they saw the other three were already at the table.

"Hey guys," she greeted, taking her usual seat between her boyfriend and Katie. All the others echoed the sentiment and returned to what everyone in the school was talking about: Buford.

"Is he really going to be okay?" Christina asked Adyson. She seemed to be more worried than anyone else expected.

"Baljeet," Adyson started. Holly caught a flash of jealousy across Cameron's face, but she only saw it since she expected it. Adyson was completely unaware, "told me he's going to be out for at least month. Even then, it will be so close to Christmas break he might just be gone until after that."

"That really sucks," she sighed as she returned to picking at her food.

"Were you that close to Buford?" Irving asked.

"Well, it's not like we talked much, but he was sort of a," she paused to think of the best word, "protector."

"Buford _protected_ you? I gotta hear this," Holly said as she leaned in.

"Sounds interesting," Katie said.

"First I've heard," Adyson stated, all eyes glued to Christina.

"Well, you guys know how Buford has huge problems with gay slurs, right? He hates it when people use words like gay or fag or words along those lines. That tends to piss off other members of the football team. So, you guys remember how Ginger and I revealed we were dating last February? At first, there was a lot of homophobia since we're the only out lesbians in the school."

"But you said no one bothered you," Holly interrupted. She now looked very worried for the other girl's safety.

"At first, no one did. The most we had to deal with was people avoiding us or giving us strange looks. But after one class, she walked me to my locker and we decided to hold hands. I mean, other couples have gotten away with way worse in the halls. But Mr. Campbell called us out and gave us detention for a 'public display of affection.' The same thing happened a few days later with Mrs. Hughs. When we got pulled aside, a nearby guy grabbed his girlfriend and kissed her right there in front of Mrs. Hughs, and she just walked on by."

"That's total bullshit!" Holly exclaimed, jumping up. People around turned and looked at her in surprise. She sunk down into her chair, embarrassed. "Seriously, how did those fuckers get away with that shit?"

"I can't believe other teachers let them get away with that," Irving injected.

"Mr. Watkins tried to report it, but the principal turned out to be a conservative Christian. He was responsible for that family values seminar they held a week after it came out we were dating. So the teachers pretty much gave other students a free ticket to harass us. That's when it started."

"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Adyson asked her. "We could've helped you."

"We would've kicked all their punk asses," Holly growled. Irving grabbed her hand to calm her.

"People would utter slurs around us, call us names, even make catcalls. Some teachers stopped them, but many were either apathetic or justified it to themselves. We decided to put up with it. We liked each other and weren't going to give those bastards," Christina paused, a little surprised at what she had just said. She hardly ever said any profanities and none of them had ever heard her swear, "the satisfaction of breaking us up.

"One day, when we were at her locker, a group of seven football players surrounded us. They told us to put on a show for them, said we were a pair of lesbian whores and we were only doing this to get guys' attention."

"Names," Holly demanded, but Christina ignored her. Everyone else was a mixture of worried and angry, feeling desires much similar to the ones Holly felt now.

"We tried to get out, but they wouldn't let us. They kept saying all those horrible things until Ginger dropped to her knees and covered her ears. When I dropped to her side, I saw she was beginning to cry and I was preparing to actually attack them when I saw Mrs. Hughs watching from the corner, possibly smiling but that might've been my anger making me see things. Even if I fought them, I would be the one to get in trouble. I couldn't win.

"But what happened next was something out of a story book. One of them crashed to the ground, Buford pinning him to the ground. When they all turned to look at him, Zack popped up behind two others and sent them to the floor. The others bolted once they realized what was happening, knowing they couldn't take the star football players and best fighters in school. I looked to where Mrs. Hughs had been, but she had also vanished. Buford asked me where Ginger lived, and after I told him, he picked her up and carried her away. It tried to follow, but Zack told me to go to class. Later, I learned that he had taken her home. For the next few days they acted like bodyguards for the two of us. After a while, it ended."

"How did we never hear about any of this?" Katie asked since she was the first one to recover from the story.

"Everyone that knew kept quiet so not to anger Buford or Zack and I didn't want any of you to worry," she explained.

"Did you ever find out why he did that?" Holly asked, her lack of swearing a sign she was calming down.

"I never asked and neither did Ginger. We decided he must have some reason that wasn't any of our business," she explained. "All I can do is thank him since now Ginger and I can hold hands in school."

"If anything like that ever happens, tell us," Adyson demanded, strict but caring.

"We got ya back," Cameron agreed. When the three others parroted the ideas, Christina smiled.

"Oh course," Christina said with a bright smile. She seemed on the verge of tears to have people that cared about her so much.

The meal calmed down at that point, the discussion decaying back to what was usually talked about. Afterwards, they parted for their lockers and for their classes. Cameron, as per usual, accompanied Adyson to her locker.

"Addie?" he asked. She was being uncharacteristically quiet and it was bothering him.

"Yeah," she responded, not looking him in the eyes, further aggravating him.

"Ya wanna go on a date this Friday?" he asked, keeping his voice as casual as he could, but his nervousness and anticipation seeped through to his words. Her face went red when she heard this, but she refused to answer. "I didn't play "Smile" 'cause it's a great song," he said.

"I know," she replied, still avoiding him.

"I'm serious 'bout ya," he told her, still doing a respectable job of keeping himself in control.

"I know," she almost whispered. "I'm sorry, but I'm studying with Baljeet that night."

"Kay, we'll go out 'nother time," he said with a smile. "I'll meet cha at class," he stated as he dashed off. He was trying his hardest to remember some of the things that Adyson had said about Baljeet. That's when he saw him walking towards the cafeteria. He caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder. "Come with me," he ordered as he tugged at the limb. Baljeet looked surprised, but he complied all the same while shaking Cameron's hand off of him. He led him to a class room that wasn't in use during this period. After the door was closed, Cameron spun to look at Baljeet with anger and jealousy burning in his eyes.

"You like Adyson?" he asked angrily, though it didn't seem to be a question. His words weren't slurred together anymore, but were clear like they were when he sung.

"What?" Baljeet asked. He had no idea what was going on right now, and this wasn't making it any clearer.

"I asked, do you like Adyson Sweetwater?" he repeated, aying the words slowly as if in mockery of him.

"What-but I-no, I don't," he stuttered, Cameron shook his head with disappointment.

"She doesn't like liars," he stated, his voice still biting. Baljeet was amazed a sheer emotion he conveyed through his voice, something he suspected he obtained through years of singing.

"But I don't like her," Baljeet said again. While he admitted that he had been considering the idea that he might like her, he still hadn't come to terms with these emotions.

"I can promise you this: I won't lose her to you, or anyone else," he hissed as he walked out the door. Before he let the door close behind him, he turned back to Baljeet. "I didn't see you at her side the past two years."

"That's because-" he spun around to snap back, but Cameron was already gone. Baljeet held his head up for a moment before it dropped and he collapsed in a nearby desk. He needed to compose himself if he was going to go have lunch with his friends. _Did that really just happen?_ he asked himself. Maybe Cameron was really serious about her, and, if he was, Baljeet had no right to interfere between them. Something inside of him objected strongly to this, but he pushed those emotions deep down inside of him. Cameron was a talented guy and, besides a minute ago, a nice guy. He would probably treat Adyson well. _Why, then why_, he asked himself, _can't I stand the idea of them being together?_

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"Phineas," Baljeet said to his friend. They were relaxing in Phineas and Ferb's room. Ferb was out with Gretchen at the moment, Isabella was at her house working on a project, and Milly was spending every spare moment lately with Buford, so it was just the two of them.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, his eyes glued to the computer screen displaying countless lines of code. He was doing another job for Mr. Maddox and was going over the code before running a simulation to make sure it worked properly.

"You and Isabella started dating in eighth grade, right?"

"Yep, on the twenty-first, her birthday. Our three-year anniversary isn't too far away now," he said with a smile, looking away from the screen and at a small photo of his girlfriend he kept on his desk.

"Wasn't she pretty popular with other guys before you asked her out?" Baljeet asked tentatively. He hoped he wasn't giving away enough so Phineas could figure out what was going on, but Baljeet had chosen Phineas over Buford or Ferb since he was famous (or infamous, depending on the situation) for his obliviousness.

"Yeah, I was so scared when I went over there. I was at least the tenth guy to ask her out that year alone, and I was afraid I'd join the other rejects. I was shocked when she said she felt the same," he recited. He was even happier than he usually was as he remembered that happy day.

"You were the only one," Baljeet told him. Phineas gave him a guilty smile before returning to his story.

"If what I hear is right, she's still really popular. This is just what I've heard from other people and Isabella violently denies it, but apparently guys still flirt with her, hit on her, and a few have asked her to dump me for them."

"Don't you ever get angry or jealous?" Baljeet asked again.

"Sometimes, but it usually fades quickly. I know enough about relationships to know that jealousy and distrust are a one-way ticket to a breakup. And the fact she refuses all of them to stay with me says enough."

"I guess you're right, but…" Baljeet couldn't think of a way to finish without telling Phineas about what Cameron had said. "What if someone said they wouldn't give up on Isabella? What would you do then?"

"I'd do nothing. I can't stop him from liking her. Hell, I still don't understand why everyone isn't in love with her. Anyway, it's Isabella's choice when it comes down to it and I'm certain that she'll choose me."

"But how can you be so sure?" Baljeet asked, a little more excited than he wanted to sound.

"I treat her well, we love being around each other, and I just feel that we're right for each other," he explained. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just trying to understand relationships," Baljeet said, glad he wasn't openly lying to his friend.

"Don't worry 'Jeet, you'll find someone," Phineas tried to assure him, but Baljeet wasn't then, he realized what had happened between Cameron and him. Cameron was mean or vicious, but scared. He was scared that he had no power to make the girl he cared for feel the same way about him or to make sure she didn't fall for another. And this fear drove him to attempt to scare away his major competition. Baljeet knew then he had to respect Cameron's feelings and make sure he didn't get in the way of those two. Again, something inside of him strongly objected, but, again, he forced that deep down inside of himself.


	10. Akash, Boundless and Crushing

Akash, Boundless and Crushing

Baljeet gazed at the horizon, enjoying the view of the rising sun he got from the roof of his house. Resting at the side of his mouth was a cigarette, the end gently glowing red. In his pocket was a pack only three short of full and he had several more in his room. He had woken up at four thirty and had been unable to fall back asleep. Now, he was just resting and, as usual, thinking. He was still struggling to accept the need for him to stay out of the way between Adyson and Cameron, but he was making progress. That was a few days ago. It was currently Friday and he was going to help Adyson study tonight. He was currently debating whether or not he should push her towards Cameron or if he should just keep his nose out of it.

He knew the time he had to be ready by was fast approaching, so he reluctantly pulled himself to his feet. He walked farther down to where his window opened onto the roof when he gazed down. He saw the cement of the sidewalk that led up to his house. For a moment, he considered diving. Off of this roof and off of this life. _You're too scared_, he thought to himself, _just like last time_. He ignored the feelings and returned to his room to gather the necessary supplies.

Once he had everything, he left his room again, this time through the door. He made his way to the kitchen, hoping he wasn't so late that he couldn't enjoy his cereal. There, he saw his father going over the morning paper and his little brother, Akash, eating his breakfast.

"Moring Baljee," Akash greeted, his voice cheerful and energetic.

"_Good morning Akash,_" Baljeet replied, making sure to speak in Hindi while his father was around. Akash hardly ever spoke in their native language, and when he did, he proved how much he still had much to learn.

"_I told you no smoking in the house_," his father said without looking up from his paper.

"_On top of isn't in_," Baljeet replied as he grabbed the necessary utensils for his meal. An uneasy silence settled over the room as the men of the Rai family prepared for the coming day. When Baljeet was finished, he dumped his dishes in the sink and headed for his car. Akash waved goodbye to him while his father didn't even look up at him.

Baljeet didn't waste time getting to school, going as fast as he knew he could without getting pulled over. He wished he could pass the school and just keep driving until he hit water, but he let that fantasy go as he pulled into the school's parking lot. Again, he was earlier than most students, but anything beat being in the same house as both his brother and his father. He knew that people wouldn't start arriving for another ten minutes, so he was all the more surprised to see Adyson standing outside his locker.

"Mornin'," she called to him. "What, did you see a ghost?"

"Possibly," he answered. "So, what dragged you here so early? Did Cameron call you over?" he asked jokingly. Adyson shook her head quickly, making it difficult to see her face go red with embarrassment.

"Nothing like that," she told him, expertly suppressing her redness. "Actually, I came to see you."

"Can't say I expected that," Baljeet said. He quickly reminded himself to try to push her towards Cameron. "So, what did you need?"

"Well, I was wondering if we could study at your house today," she explained, taking on her cutesy voice and posture she always assumed when she was asking something she thought he wouldn't want to do.

"Sure, but why?" he answered, causing her to instantly drop her pose.

"My mom needs the house tonight," she lied, though Baljeet was unaware that it was such.

"Alright. You'll meet me at my car after school?"

"Don't I always," she replied with a smile. With that dealt with, Baljeet continued to talk to her until they both completely lost time and ended up dashing to their first class, barely making it in time for the bell.

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"Welcome," he told her as they entered the Rai household. Adyson was surprised to see that the house did, in fact, look like a completely normal house. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but the only difference was that everything had a foreign feel to it. What really caught her eye was a picture of a small Baljeet flanked by his parents with the Taj Mahal in the background. "Come on, we're going to my room," he said, breaking her out of her visual investigation of the room and up the stairs. They went down the hall and into his room.

"Nice room," she commented. It had a desk with several papers on it and a simple rolling desk chair. There were three bookshelves crammed with various reading material in no apparent order across one wall. Lastly, there was a bed against the wall underneath a window that led out onto the roof. It was spacious enough, but it felt so cold and empty. It took Adyson a few moments before she realized why: there were no decorations in the room.

"Not really," he replied. "Shall we get started?" he asked, his voice colder than she had ever heard him speak before.

"Okay," she answered as he moved the papers on his desk aside and let her place her books there. The session that followed was different to say the least. The easy and relaxed yet Spartan nature that usually surrounded them when they study was replaced with Baljeet having a much shorter temper and being completely humorless the whole time. The studious him from when they were kids didn't compare at all to this new form.

"Baljee," someone interrupted as they knocked on the door. Adyson took relief in the break as the door opened and a smaller Indian boy lacking an accent came into the room. He resembled Baljeet when he was younger, but his clothes were much more relaxed, being simply a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. He looked like he was happy by default, but seemed almost ecstatic at the moment.

"Hey Akash," Baljeet greeted, a small smile that seemed too fake for anyone to believe. "Do you need something?"

"I was just seeing what you were doing before I go study," he explained. "Is this the girl that you've been helping all the time?"

"Yeah," he answered. "Adyson, this is my little brother, Akash. Akash, this is Adyson Sweetwater," he introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Adyson said to the boy.

"Me too," he said. "You're really lucky Baljee' is teaching you."

"I know it. I'd be failing without him," she told the boy. She didn't know this made Baljeet blush. "Does he help you too?"

"Sometimes, but he makes sure I know how to do everything by myself," he replied. "Oh, I need to go study. Glad I got to finally see you," he said before running off to his.

"Same here," she called after him as she got up to close the door. When she turned around, she saw Baljeet leaning out the window.

"Baljeet, are you okay?" she asked. He didn't move or say anything in response. "Baljeet?"

"No, I'm not," he finally answered.

"What's wrong?" she asked, walking over to bed and joining him on the bed. Again, he maintained his silence before pulling himself back inside and leaning against the wall. He closed the window and stared at the door. He reached for his pocket, but stopped himself with a glance at Adyson. "Baljeet, you can tell me," she comforted him as she rested a hand on his shoulder. After another silence that was much longer than it needed to be, he spoke.

"I hate him," he finally said. Adyson watched him as she waited for an elaboration he felt was unnecessary. "I hate my brother."

"Why? He seems so nice," she asked.

"He's in sixth grade. What do you think he's studying?" he asked, continuing his depressed tone.

"I don't know. Math or science," she guessed, now growing confused.

"Math. More specifically, calculus," Baljeet elaborated. It took her a second to understand exactly what he was implying, but then it all made sense. That kid was already at Baljeet's level.

"Is that what's bothering you?" she asked, almost in disbelief. Baljeet had always been the rational one. How could this be depressing him?

"Did you not hear me? He's in sixth grade and already he's already studying math at the same level as me. How do you expect me to take it?" he retorted his face growing angry at what he perceived as ignorance on her part.

"Shouldn't you be proud of your brother for being so talented?" she replied, her face becoming like his but for different reasons. "You should be happy for him."

"He stole everything from me," he answered her.

"Now we both know that's total bullshit."

"Really? I was the best, even though being the best made my life harder. At least I could take comfort in my abilities. Now, look at Akash. He's smarter than me, has countless friends, and my father only cares about him. All that work I did can't compare to what he can do almost effortlessly," he told her, his voice rising like his fury as all the anger and jealousy he felt towards his brother swell up to be directed at this uninvolved girl.

"At least you were the best at something for a while. Me? I held a record in the Fireside Girls that was completely destroyed by Candace. Ever since, I've always dealt with never being the best, just like everyone else has learned to," she said back. Neither of them was yelling, but that made the words all the more brutal.

"At least you never had to lose everything," he spat back. In response, Adyson grabbed his collar and pulled him close to her until they were almost touching.

"You have no goddamn idea what I've lost. At least I'm mature enough not to sulk like a three year-old about it," she hissed. She released him with a push. "And don't ever say you've lost everything. You have Buford, Phineas, Ferb, Milly, Isabella, and Gretchen. And you have me," she said, her anger now fading into sadness. "Are you saying that none of us mean anything? Believe it or not, people care about you. So stop wallowing in self-pity and take a look around you before you lose everything you still have." She left the room after that, still fuming.

She kept herself under control as she went down the stairs, not wanting to disturb the other members of the family. But at the kitchen, she saw Akash standing at the fridge, filling up a water bottle. She hoped she would be able to avoid him, but he not surprisingly, he saw her.

"Hi Addie," he greeted. "Are you leaving already?"

"Yeah. I need to get home," she answered. "Didn't you say you were going to go study?"

"I just needed to get this," he said, signaling to the water bottle in his hands. "Addie, are you dating Baljee'?"

"What?" she exclaimed, shocked someone would expect her to like that mopey bastard. When she realized Akash didn't know that, she tried to recollect herself to answer him properly. "No, I'm not," she answered, doing a good job of controlling herself.

"Oh," he sighed, sounding disappointed. "Well, please try to make him happy. He's been so sad lately," he told her, sounding depressed himself. "Even dad has been ignoring him."

"Don't-" she tried to say, but it was impossible for her to finish that sentence. "You really care about your brother, don't you?"

"Of course," he replied with a smile. "He always helps me whenever I have trouble, even if he has other things to do. He never bullies me like my other friends' brothers do. He also helps all my other friends when they're over. And playing games with him is so fun."

"Wow," she sighed, quiet enough so he couldn't hear her. "I'll try. Now you need to go study."

"Okay. See ya later Addie," he waved goodbye as he ran for the stairs. She left without saying anything back. She couldn't help but wonder about Baljeet the whole walk home.

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He looked up from where he had been laying on his bed to see his brother in the doorway, a sheet of paper in his hands. For a few hours now he had been not completely asleep yet not awake, drifting somewhere in between. "Baljee', can you help me?"

"Sure," he groaned as he pulled himself into sitting position. His brother walked over and plopped down next to him, handing him the sheet and a pencil. "Which one?"

"That one," Akash replied, pointing at several lines at the bottom of the sheet. "I've done it three times but I keep getting it wrong."

"Here's your problem," he started after reading over the entirety of his work. "Here, you have x raised to the three-fifths power. It's supposed to be five-thirds."

"Oh, I mess that rule up. Thanks Baljee', you never miss mistakes" the younger Indian said as he left the room. It wasn't until then that Adyson's words really hit home. He was loved by all of his friends and even the brother he wanted to shun. Instead of looking at them, he looked at the people whose affections he had lost. He felt a passionate hatred inside towards himself for spending so long contemplating suicide. He had started smoking because it felt like an easy way out.

"Damn," he grumbled as he almost began to laugh at his own stupidity. It was then that he noticed her books were still on his desk. He grabbed his phone and was calling her without a second thought. It wasn't until he heard her greet hello that he remembered how angry she was at him.

"Hey," he said. When she didn't respond, he felt his temperature rise. "You left your books here."

"I know," she quipped back. Her voice was devoid of any emotion other than annoyance.

"I'll bring them to you on Monday," he told her.

"I expected you to." Baljeet had no idea how to talk to her when she was like this, so he decided to just jump in the deep end.

"You were right," he said.

"I know."

"I was just looking for a reason to pity myself."

"I know," she replied, still not showing any more emotion. Baljeet sighed inwardly. He wasn't going to get any more out of her tonight. He could only hope she would have forgiven him by Monday.

"Thank you," he finished as he hung up his phone. For the rest of the night, no matter what he did, Adyson remained the center of his thoughts. He didn't even mind his father ignoring him that night. When the time came for him to sleep, he couldn't. He stared at the ceiling in total silence as he thought about how this wasn't the first time this had happened. _When did it begin? _He asked himself. _When did I stop thinking about everything other than Adyson_?


	11. A Heart Warmed December

A Heart Warmed December

Ethan walked in through the front of his father's store, ignoring the greeter and all of the patrons. He had just returned from the bookstore where he had run into Baljeet. He entered the kitchen and deposited the plastic bag of cookbooks in his dessert area, knowing no employee would touch them. Even in the thick coat worn to protect himself from the cold of the first week of December, he moved almost silently up the stairs to where he lived with the two other members of his family. His father was cooking as per usual, but he wasn't concerned about that. He entered the room that Buford had been living in for almost a month and his sister had spent every spare moment inside of.

"Buford, you need to lie down," he heard her order. Over the past week, Buford had become increasingly restless. He was protesting his confinement and desperately trying to leave his bed. Ethan actually believed that she had been spiking his dinners with sleeping medicine. He couldn't see any other way the former football star could rest with all the energy he seemed to be burning with. However, Ethan was concerned with something much more important at the moment.

"I told you, my back his fine," he objected as he began pulling himself into sitting position, but flinched once his head was more than a foot above his pillow.

"No, it's not," she told him as she placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back down. "Just rest. You won't do anyone any good by exerting yourself."

"Fine," he grumbled. If the past was any indication, he would be back at it in two hours. Still, that was enough of a victory. "Hey Ethan," he greeted the young man, bringing Milly's attention to her brother's presence.

"Hey," he greeted them both. He walked to a chair and sat down before he continued talking. "MEBRIS needs to operate," he told them.

"First off, I thought you didn't like that name," MIlly started, her voice quizzical. "Second, what do we need to do?"

"Baljeet likes Adyson," he stated plainly. Neither of the two other occupants of the room spoke. Buford's mouth opened slightly as if to speak, but no words escaped. "I ran into him today and he told me."

"And you want us to set them up?" Milly asked. He nodded, looking to both of them for confirmation. "Okay, well, this is an idea I've been working on for a while. It might be a long shot…"

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Baljeet flipped through the book he had bought at the bookstore, but it was fruitless. It wasn't that an analysis of the physics behind the concept of time travel didn't interest him, but his mind refused to be distracted from what had been its sole occupation for at least two weeks now: thinking of Adyson.

He placed the book on the side table next to the chair he was lounging in. With no desire to go home, he had come to the library. Now, even the familiar and comfortable atmosphere that came with every room filled with books was useless in calming his nerves. He couldn't ever remember caring about someone like this before. He had had a crush on Isabella many years ago, though that was due to the fact that she was the only girl he spent any considerable amount of time with. At the same time, he had found Wendy Stinglehopper both cute and intelligent, so she had also been one of his secret crushes. He had never been sure how he had felt about Mishti and, due to their distance severing their relationship over the years, any emotions he might have once harbored for her were washed away. This feeling was different from all of those. He could have fun with her, viewing her as a friend. At the same time, he felt a desire to hold her and kiss her with all the passion he could muster. These feelings didn't feel like they were opposing each other, but instead were different layers of the same emotion.

Overall, he was confused. He could ask any of his romantically involved friends, but he felt like this was something that he needed to try to understand by himself. He had ended up telling Ethan about how he felt when they ran into each other earlier, but that was because he was sure he wouldn't be able to hide anything from him. Now he couldn't help but wonder if that was the right decision. After all, he still couldn't help but feel that Cameron would be a better boyfriend and his logic loving side knew that she should date him. That didn't stop his heart from yearning for her. His whole body had become a boxing match for his brain and heart.

"You okay?" a new presence asked. It was none other than Swampy, the head librarian and occasional drummer for Love Händel.

"I've been worse," he answered, not feeling like bothering uninvolved people with his problems.

"You also look like you've been better," he told the young boy. He jumped over the back of a nearby chair and landed in a sitting position that quickly devolved into a relaxed slouch.

"Maybe I can help, one book lover to another," he told him.

"Isn't there work you need to do?" he asked, hoping he would leave.

"Nope. No one comes around this time of year. So, what's on your mind?" Swampy explained.

"You won't leave until I do, will you?" Swampy's mischievous smile said all he needed to hear. "I like a girl."

"Don't we all," he answered.

"Yeah, but there's no way she likes me back. There's a way better guy than me that's got it bad for her. I don't stand a chance against him."

"Did she tell you that, or did you tell yourself?" he asked, the words blending strangely with his relaxed, former rocker voice.

"She didn't need to tell me. Anyone with eyes could see he's better than me," he responded. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to read."

"Before I go, can I tell you a story? Don't worry, it's short," he asked.

"Fine," Baljeet sighed, giving up.

"It was at the height of Love Händel's popularity. We had just released 'You Snuck Your Way Right Into my Heart.' I met this girl a while back and I had been seeing her occasionally as a friend. I had serious feelings for her, so I asked her out. I had money, fame, talent, and I was decent looking if I do say so myself. I thought there was no way she would refuse me. She did. The guy she chose had nothing I had, but she still wanted him more than she wanted me. I never saw her after that, but I hear they ended up getting married and had a daughter. Anyway, see you around," Swampy finished as he left for the front desk. Baljeet was in a daze. If rock stars could be refused, why couldn't Cameron? When he thought this, he felt a buzzing from his cellphone in his pocket.

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"Addie, you alright?" Christina asked the girl from down the street that was sitting in her living room right now. It seemed like she had been avoiding her own house for weeks now, and no one could understand why. Even Holly had given up on learning why, and that was no small feat.

"Cameron gave me an ultimatum," she answered. "He said he wants to know what I plan to do by Monday."

"So he's forcing you to you to answer him? That's horrible," Christina stated.

"Not really," Adyson replied, surprised she was defending the other boy. "It's been almost a month since he told me he was serious about me, and I haven't given a response yet. Anyone would be driven mad by it. I been avoiding so he couldn't find me."

"So you don't like him. Just tell him," she told her. "What's the worst he could do?"

"But I'm not sure I don't like him. At the very least, I feel like he deserves a chance, but…" she trailed off, unable to finish the thought that still confused her.

"Baljeet?" Christina interjected, knowing that was who she was thinking of.

"Yeah. Every time I think of Cameron's confession, I can't help but remember Baljeet."

"You always talk about him too," Christina added. "Not to mention, you look at him differently than you do anyone else."

"I'm not sure why. I may sound stupid-"

"You don't," Christina assured her.

"But I just don't know what I feel for him. I don't know if it's anger or friendship or something else. I feel both of those when I'm with him, but also a lot more. It's all so confusing," she groaned as she covered her face with her hands.

"Don't stress about it," Christina told her. "The way I see it, what will happen will happen. You just need to follow your heart when it you need to. If you force yourself to make a decision you're not sure about, I can promise you'll make the wrong one."

"Thanks," Adyson smiled to her friend. Holly's brutal words worked sometimes, but other times kindness and reassurance was what she needed to hear.

"After all, it much more interesting this way," she teased, causing Adyson to give an exaggerated groan.

"I take that back," she told her. They shared a laugh as Adyson's pocket began to buzz. Removing her phone, she saw the number was one she didn't recognize.

_Adyson, It's Baljeet_

_Meet me on Main Street_

_I need to talk to you_

"Any idea what he wants?" Christina asked as she read the message over Adyson's shoulder.

"None. I don't get why he has a new number either," she replied.

"This looks really sketchy," she told her. "Do you plan on going?"

"Oh course. I'll drive down there and if he's not around, I'll leave. If I don't leave the car, I'll be fine."

"Okay. Be careful," Christina warned as her friend wrapped herself up for the cold outside. "Don't get out to look for him."

"I'll be fine. See ya later," she said as she ran out the door. She was in her car soon after that. Her old clunker took time to start up, and she was more frustrated at it than she ever had before. She wanted it to move faster than she knew it was either capable of or was legal. After getting to Main Street not fast enough, she saw it was completely deserted. All of the buildings were dark, leaving only streetlights and her headlights to illuminate the streets. She drove down until she saw a single parked car with Baljeet standing next to it, looking quite confused. He was staring at her, trying to identify the vehicle.

"Hey!" she yelled as she rolled down her window. She pulled directly behind his car and got out.

"Nice to see you," he said as she ran up to him.

"What's going on here?" she asked him. "I didn't know Danville could be this deserted."

"Same here," he responded.

"You…didn't do this?" she inquired. Since he had called her out here, she was certain he was responsible for this, whatever this was.

"I thought you did. After all, you sent me that strange text," he told her.

"But I got a weird text from you," she objected.

"Well-" Baljeet tried to explain, but as he tried to speak, light exploded from all of the buildings on the street. It wasn't the white or yellow light that was usually seen here, but golden. The two turned around to stare down the fantastical setting. Such a familiar sight to both of them, but lacking one of the most important aspects: people. Like this, it was like they were the only people in Danville. No, it felt like they were the only ones in the world. They both backed up slowly until they bumped into each other. Neither could find it in themselves to move from there. Piercing through the silence that surrounded them was a sound very familiar to Adyson. It was the opening keys of one of her favorite guilty pleasure songs.

_Making my way downtown_

_Walkin' fast, faces pass and I'm homebound_

_Starin' blankly ahead, just makin' my way_

_Makin' a way through the crowd_

She turned ever so slightly so she could see the boy she was backed up against. He looked just as confused and even more flustered than she did. The music was of incredible clarity, as if the song was being played right before them.

Baljeet was practically screaming in his head as the music continued to play. He cursed Ethan since he knew was the one responsible for this, but at the same time was battling furiously with himself. As he looked down the street again, he realized something so vitally important. He would never, and he meant never, have a chance like this again. He remained silent until the song began to wind down. As it did, he turned to look at her. She felt him move and did the same. When the music was done, they were face to face.

"Adyson," he started. He wasn't a poet, though he was praying to anything to take away all of his science and math abilities in return for the most eloquent way to say what he was going to. When nothing came, he decided to just say it. "I like you. I like you more than a friend."

Adyson didn't speak at first. The sheer weight at what had just happened was crushing her. When she heard him, her heart melted. She knew now why she couldn't have responded to Cameron. It was because she had already fallen for Baljeet. She saw something above her and looked up to see snowflakes drifting down onto them. Baljeet also took notice and stared in amazement. The scene was truly picturesque, like someone had ripped it off the cover of a romance novel. Adyson was thinking of everything when she finally responded.

"I'm sorry Baljeet, but I can't go out with you."

The first snowflakes hit the ground.


	12. Snowflakes and Heartaches

Snowflakes and Heartaches

"Let me go," Buford demanded as he pushed against his restraining girlfriend. In something that looked truly pitiful, Milly kept him down.

"There's nothing any of us can do," Milly told him. He continued to struggle despite this, but it was clear his heart was no longer in it.

"Why?" he asked when he settled down. "What does that bitch want that he doesn't have?"

"Only she knows," Ethan answered, he had entered without either of the others noticing. "And let's not insult her. If Baljeet fell for her, than she can't be a bitch."

"I don't agree, but fine," Buford grumbled.

"How could we have failed? I thought it was perfect," Milly asked them, though she didn't expect either of them to actually answer her.

"We emptied the busiest street in the city, placed golden lights in every building, set up a sound system that runs down the street as well as machines to create snow. If all that failed, I'm guessing nothing we could've done would've worked," Ethan explained, strangely calm. "So a toast," he told them, pulling out a bottle of whisky and three glasses. Buford propped himself up at the sight of the liquid. He poured some of the alcohol into each glass and passed one to the others.

"To MEBRIS's formerly perfect record," Milly said.

"To Baljeet and his new broken heart," Ethan grumbled.

"To whatever girl will eventually make him happy," Buford finished. They all raised their glasses before quickly draining them. "Aren't you going to go see Baljeet soon?" Buford asked the older man.

"I'll need to be a lot more drunk before I visit the guy I set up to have his heart broken," Ethan explained as he reached for the bottle again. "Wanna help?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Buford replied.

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Phineas looked to the house before him. He turned to his stepbrother for a reassuring nod before they both approached the front door. When Milly had contacted them about helping Baljeet confess to Adyson, he didn't know what to expect. After he heard them out and helped them set up, he was convinced the plan was foolproof. When he saw the rejection from his vantage point on the roof, he was just confused.

As he knocked on the door, he ran through all of the things he could say to him in his head. Phineas was worried that the last thing Baljeet wanted was a visit from his friends with girlfriends, but it was better to be there and not be wanted than to let him wallow in his depression.

"Hello," Baljeet greeted normally from the door. "Oh, Phineas and Ferb. Come on in," he said as he moved aside to allow his friends entrance.

"Hey," Phineas returned, more than a little thrown off. Ferb nodded his greeting. If he was feeling any surprise, he wasn't showing it.

"Let's head up to my room," the young Indian told them, still not revealing any of the sorrow they suspected he was harboring. On the way up to the room, Phineas was mentally prepping himself for the room of a stalker or a suicidal teenager. Again, the room was the same as it always was, albeit a bit messier, but nothing glaring.

"So, what's going on? You guys usually call before you visit," Baljeet said as he plopped down on his bed.

"We came to see how you were doing. We heard about, well, you know," he said, his voice showing he was in one his rare instances of being unsure.

"Oh, that," he said as if he was talking about some minor incident that occurred months ago. "You don't need to worry. I'm going to be fine," he explained with a wave of his hand.

"Baljeet, don't act strong," Ferb stated plainly, his concern showing through. "We're here to help." The brothers moved to the other boy's bed to be prepared for whatever followed.

"I'm not acting," he told them. "I can't lie, I was devastated when I got home. I sat on the roof and smoked maybe a full pack while I just thought."

"About what?" Phineas interrupted, his nervousness worsening. He remembered reading that this kind of calm in someone that would normally be distressed could be a sign of suicidal thoughts.

"Adyson, what I did wrong, Adyson, all the relationships around me, and Adyson," he answered. "When it got so cold I couldn't even light up anymore, I climbed into bed and slept. I woke up this morning and suddenly everything came to me." He paused after this, retreating into his own thoughts.

"What did you realize?" Phineas asked, his panic beginning to ease up.

"I like Adyson. She's kind, beautiful, strong, intelligent, hard-working, compassionate, and determined. Just because she doesn't feel the same way for me won't change any of that. Instead of fixating myself on the past, I'll do whatever I can to ensure her happiness. After all, if you expect something back for liking someone, how can you claim to really like them?" he finished.

"Wow," Phineas muttered. The Baljeet he knew before would have practically lost his will to live. Now, this level headed guy was approaching heartache with more resolve than most adults. Phineas than did what he was prepared to not do for hours. He smiled. "Let's go grab a bite to eat," he said as he threw his arm around the Indian boy's neck, "I could use a burger."

"Let's agree to not tell Milly," Baljeet replied, enjoying the red-head's friendship more than ever. He may be able to accept the scars on his heart, but that didn't change the fact that they still hurt like hell.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Addie," Christina said sadly as she rubbed her friend's back gently. The usually strong and determined girl was hugging her knees to her chest as tears continued to roll down her face. She gave a small sniffle as she tried again to suppress her tears. Christina was at loss of words and merely tried comforting the girl with her presence. She came earlier that day to see what happened yesterday. She found the Adyson still in her bed, the lights off, but not sleeping. She had relayed the story and promptly began to cry.

"Why?" she asked through her sniffles. "Why can't I want Cameron? Why does it have to be Baljeet?" she asked again. Christina was speechless as the sobs returned. While she didn't want to pressure her heartbroken friend, she couldn't even begin to understand what inspired her to reject the boy she cared so much for.

"Hey," a new voice greeted. Christina knew that Addie's mom was working extra hours this weekend, so she was confused for a moment. When the door was opened by a dark skinned hand, she knew it was Holly. What Christina didn't expect was to see Katie and Ginger silently file in behind her.

"What are you guys doing here," Adyson asked, doing her best to hold back her tears. The girls responded by sitting around her. Holly was at her other side while Katie and Ginger sat in front of her, form a semi-circle around her.

"We're here to see you," Holly answered, her tone completely lacking its usual bite.

"We heard what happened," Ginger told her. Katie nodded silently in agreement.

"You guys," Adyson mumbled as she looked at the four girls, one by one. Memories of all they had done together began flooding back into Adyson's mind. "Thanks," she sniffled, her tears slowing.

"Don't thank us for what we're required to do," Katie stated plainly.

"Still," she sighed, the tears finally stopping, though she was still sniffling. For a long while after, the girls did nothing in particular. They goofed around, made fun of each other, and gossiped as they always did. Ginger and Christina spent as much time as they could in physical contact, much to Katie's annoyance, but that was also just the norm. Despite the pain that Adyson was feeling right now, with all her friends at her side, she felt like maybe, just maybe, she could move past it.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Look at this one," Django said to Irving as he pointed to yet another work. Since both of their girlfriends were occupied today, they decided to go to the Danville art museum. While both Holly and Katie appreciated still art, they were never thrilled at the prospect of spending all day surrounded by it. Whenever the two friends were free, they made sure to spend time at the museum. Dajngo couldn't count the number of times he had been struck by inspiration while wandering these halls or the number of tricks Irving had picked up about photography while examining the images.

"Interesting," Irving muttered. "His use of spacing is excellent, though the color pallet is lacking. Everything is within a few shades of each other."

"I think that accents the way he uses light. It's subtle yet striking," Django commented. The friends had learned long ago that art was a personally subjective matter and, as such, debates were practically useless. "What about this one?" Django asked as he pointed at a rather large picture hanging on the wall.

"It looks like something Phineas would enjoy," Irving responded, his voice filled with the loneliness it always held when he remembered the others they used to hang out with.

"It does. Knowing him, he would actually try to build that," Django laughed. "He never cared how hard or impossible something seemed, he always tried to make what he wanted succeed."

"If it wasn't for Ferb, he might never have even brought himself to try," Irving said. "Still, Buford became a protector instead of a bully and a football star."

"It's all because of Milly. He'd be a worthless bum if it wasn't for her," Django told him. "Honestly, I can't believe she's always realizing her dreams and she's still in high school. It'll be years before I can support myself with art."

"Some people don't even think about how they'll support themselves. I'm pretty sure Isabella is certain Phineas and her will be married before they're twenty," Irving joked.

"Gretchen's probably in the same boat with Ferb. Only Buford and Milly have been together longer," Django commented. "Funny. We all got along so well. I wonder what happened to make us drift apart?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Irving answered.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"What's bothering you?" Gretchen asked the dark haired girl sitting across from her in the library. They were trying to study, but Isabella's constant sighing was proving to be a rather obnoxious distraction.

"I'm just distracted," she told her back, brushing her off.

"Can you please provide me with information I don't already possess?" Gretchen requested, closing her notebook since she sensed that this wasn't going to be a short discussion.

"I'm just remembering when we were all together," she explained.

"What caused you to think about that?"

"I heard something interesting," Isabella started, though Gretchen didn't give her time to finish.

"That Baljeet told Adyson that he has feelings for her? Yes, I've heard the same thing," she informed her friend. "I'm more surprised that you weren't aware of his feelings for her."

"I guess I just didn't want to believe it," she sighed again.

"If those two began dating, it could serve as a catalyst that would reunite our fractured group," Gretchen explained. "Do you not want Baljeet to date her?"

"Of course I do. Baljeet is my friend. It's just…" she trailed off, again distracted by some far off thought. "I'm worried I'm the reason she rejected him."

"Could she believe that he still holds the same crush on you he did several years ago?"

"No, nothing like that," Isabella quickly answered. "I… don't think she's forgiven me."

"For what?" Gretchen asked, now intrigued. This was the first that she was hearing about a fight. Isabella paused for a moment before telling her story.

"You remember how Adyson and I were always butting heads when we were younger?" she asked, though she didn't need to hear the obvious 'yes' that was going to follow. "One day, one of us, I don't remember who, was in a bad mood. We started arguing, then we started yelling. It was escalating quickly, but we weren't going to back down and there was no one there to hold us back. Then I pushed her too far," she stopped in an attempt to keep the old emotions under control. "She said 'At least my parents didn't break up because of me.'"

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"You said what?" Holly asked in shock.

"I said 'At least my parents didn't break up because of me,'" she replied, her embarrassment and shame as clear as day on her face. The girls were all speechless as Adyson continued her tale. "She held back tears when she screamed 'It's better than being an accident like you.'"

"Then what?" Ginger asked, clutching to Christina even tighter than usual.

"We both cried and ran off. We couldn't bring ourselves to face each other after that," she told them.

"So, you're saying you refused Baljeet not because you don't have feelings for him, but because you were afraid it would make Isabella and, by extension, Phineas, Ferb, and Gretchen all stop being friends with him?" Holly summarized. Adyson gave a nod, still too ashamed of her past actions to speak. "That's bullshit."

"Holly, think of it from Adyson's point of view," Christina objected. "If being his girlfriend led to him being more miserable, it could ruin their relationship."

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"So you believe that you losing your temper and retorting to a verbal attack, Adyson can't forgive you?" Gretchen replied still absorbing all she had heard.

"Why would she? I pushed her too far and couldn't admit my mistake. It's been so long, she probably can't do anything but hate me," Isabella answered. "And I don't blame her."

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"I mean, what have I done to deserve her forgiveness?" Adyson concluded, her voice threatening to fall back into sobs. The girls around her were speechless. Each had their own opinion on the matter, but no one had the heart to voice it now.

"Guys, look," Christina said, pointing to the window. All the girls turned to see the first real snowflakes of winter gently falling. All of the girls abandoned their thoughts and moved to the window to get a better view of the scene. Everything was abandoned as they watched the natural beauty unfold before their eyes. Across Danville, everyone was stopping to gaze at what was so simple yet so beautiful. And among these masses were two people with mutual feelings that hoped with all their heart that one day, no matter how far away, they would be together.


	13. Cameron, I

The best excuse I can give for not updating for so long is that I've been very, VERY busy. College is hard. But this story will be finished, I can promise you that. Also, the song sung in this chapter is Cologne by Ben Folds. Enjoy the newest chapter of A Pair of Third Wheels and, if you have the time, tell me what you think.

* * *

><p>"Cameron, I…"<p>

Adyson looked around the crowded room that was usually Danny's. However, the entire place had been redecorated from a music store into practically a concert hall. Every year Danny had local musicians put on a show in his shop that he transformed into a much more appropriate location. She had been with Cameron until a few minutes ago. Now the current band was finishing up and she had no idea where her "date" could be. _If Baljeet was here_ she began to think, but she stopped herself. She had already decided to abandon her feelings for him.

-_Last Monday_-

"Hey Addie," Cameron greeted the girl who was standing by her locker alone. She was moving slower than usual and was staring off into the distance. It took her several seconds to register the boy's greeting.

"Morning Cameron," she grumbled back, all the exhaustion she was feeling evident in her voice.

"Didja e'en sleep?" he asked.

"Some," she mumbled. She left out that her reason was that she had no idea how she could face Baljeet after what had happened.

"Wanna go t' Danny's for da' concert?" he asked her calmly. He didn't want to say it, but he knew what her problem was. The only reason he didn't ask was that hearing her say it would crush the faint hopes he had.

"Cameron," she started, her intentions masked by the heaviness of her voice. Before she continued, she stopped and thought more things she gave no hint to. "Okay," she finished. Cameron would've been happy normally, but he couldn't find it in himself. She made the idea of spending time with him sound physically painful.

"I need t' go," he told her and ran off. She didn't mind. She was busy mentally prepping herself for AP Calculus with Baljeet. She didn't see him enter the trigonometry room, a class he didn't even take. "Did it," he said when he entered the room.

"Thanks," Christina told him. "I'm sorry we asked you to do this."

"Don't be," he muttered back. "Wasn' righ', I wouldn' 'elp," he explained.

"Have you planned everything?" she asked, turning to the other girls in the room.

"It'll work this," Milly assured her.

"I have complete faith in this operation," Gretchen stated. Ginger, Katie, Holly, and Milly nodded in agreement.

"Jus' so we're clear," Cameron started, drawing the attention of all the girls, his voice more serious than any of them were used to, "I like 'er, and I'm telling 'er."

"Of course," Milly replied, hoping to cut off the objection she knew Holly would pose. "You deserve at least one more chance. But I hope you know we're here to set her up with Baljeet."

"I do," he told her. He gave a simple wave to the group and walked off, probably to think of the best way to confess to the girl he was certain would reject him.

_-The Concert-_

"Where is he?" she asked, looking around the crowd to find the location of her "date." What she ended up seeing was many times worse. Isabella and Phineas were there, but it didn't look like either of them had noticed her. She ducked and moved aside, making sure to keep a wide girth between them. The last thing she needed was to be around her. Her mind was racing at the moment. It would be very easy for them to run into each other here, and she needed to think of a way to avoid that.

"What are you doing Isabella?" Phineas asked. He was just starting to get into the group currently playing, the sound reminding him quite a bit of his favorite guitarist. However, his girlfriend was constantly moving around, stepping forward and back seemingly arbitrarily.

"Nothing," she replied, stopping herself when she realized how stupid she looked. She was doing her best to place Phineas between her and Adyson. She thought the other girl hadn't seen her yet and was doing her best to keep Phineas between them.

Adyson finally saw Cameron, stepping out from one of the doors that led to the backstage area. He motioned for her to come over. When she approached, he ducked back into the room. She followed, trying to figure out what game he was playing. She more than happy to get away from the room Isabella was in. Just as the door closed behind her, Baljeet walked in.

"Hey, there's Baljeet," Phineas told his girlfriend.

"What?" she asked. She hadn't been paying attention to her boyfriend, instead focusing on where Adyson had been. "Oh, Baljeet," she said when she looked where Phineas was pointing. The couple weaved towards their friend who was simply looking around the venue. When he caught sight of them, a smile broke out across his face. As the two reached him, the band on stage finished their last song to a loud applause from the audience. Danny got on stage after them, explaining there was going to be a break before the next performance.

"Surprised to see you here," Phineas greeted his old friend. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I needed to get out of my house, and Buford is actually studying for once, so I decided to come here. Are Ferb and Gretchen here, or is it just you two?"

"Just us. Gretchen said she had plans already and Ferb said he didn't want to spend his evening being a third wheel," he explained. "So…you holdin' up okay?"

"Phineas, I already told you, I'm fine," Baljeet replied. Phineas and Isabella looked to each other, neither believing what he had just said. "Though, she seemed to not like being around me. I guess I screwed up," he sighed. "Anyway, are there good performances scheduled?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

None of them noticed a girl watching them from across the room. Of course, having contacts in and her hair bundled under a hat made it almost impossible to recognize Gretchen. She pulled out her cell and began texting. None of them had expected Baljeet to be there. She quickly received Holly's reply, a simple _FUCK!_ while Christina and Ginger expressed similar emotions with more tasteful words. Milly's response was unexpected, but it was what she had to go with. They were going to start early.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Cameron, I…" she started, but she stopped, looking into the boy's eyes. They were more serious than she had ever seen before. He currently had her alone in the backroom, and had just confronted her with the decision she didn't want to make.

"I like you. I like you a lot Addie," he emphasized. "Bu' I can' wait forever. I need t' know how ya feel. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Adyson thought through what would happen if she said yes. Cameron was a good friend, and he was very caring, though hard to understand at times. He was a talented musician and was already getting recognized by record labels. She knew he would be a great boyfriend and should feel lucky just to be his friend, let alone though girl he liked. She knew she needed to do what was best for both of them.

"No," she answered, quiet and timid. She looked away from him, not wanting to see how he was going to react. Instead, he chuckled. He backed into a wall, put his hand over his face and laughed. For a moment, she thought he was going crazy. "Please, understand, I still want to friends."

"So do I," he answered, removing his hand. He showed her the most hopeful yet heartbreaking smile she had ever seen. "I knew dis would 'appen. 'Jeet, right?" he asked. She nodded slowl, causing him to shake his head, laughing again. "Tell me one thing," he started, "did I e'er have a chance?"

"Maybe," she answered. "Nut even if we had dated, once I met Baljeet, I still would've fallen for. The only difference would be that I would break up with you for him."

"Cold," he said, but he was still smiling. "Good luck," he said as he walked towards the stage. Adyson slumped down against the wall. She had just lost Cameron, but she still couldn't pursue Baljeet. She really cared about him, but she couldn't risk his friendship with Isabella, Phineas, Ferb, and Gretchen. She felt truly alone.

"Wow," she heard someone say. She looked up to see the last person she wanted to see right now. Isabella was there, alone, and judging by her reaction, she had just witnessed the entire episode between her and Cameron. "You must like him a lot."

"Who, Cameron?" Adyson asked.

"No, Baljeet," she answered. The two girls were silent, both embarrassed and quiet. They were both digging deep down to find the courage to say the words they had been unable to for years. The two words that could've fixed all of this. And then they both started to speak.

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"What do you think happened?" Ginger asked the other girls around her.

"They better have actually talked," Holly answered. "I mean-" she was stopped suddenly by the sight of the door opening. The girls held their breath as both Adyson and Isabella walked out together. The girls had abandoned their disguises and watched to see what they would do. And then they did what none of them honestly expected them to do.

They started talking to each other.

The former Fireside Girls practically squealed in glee as they charged their friends. Christina followed behind, avoiding getting in the middle of the reunion she wasn't a part of. Until Ginger grabbed her and dragged her in.

"I can't believe it," Milly said.

"It's about time!" Katie exclaimed.

"I'm so happy for you guys," Gretchen practically cried out.

"Air…" Adyson jokingly gasped. The other girls parted and gave them some semblance of personal space. A very energetic silence hung in the air.

"So," Milly started, "are you guys friends again?" Isabella looked to Adyson for a moment before returning her gaze to the others.

"Yeah, I guess we are," she answered. The frenzy continued just as it had a few moments ago. Across the hall, Phineas and Baljeet watched in confusion.

"Any idea wha-" Phineas began.

"Nope," Baljeet interrupted. Even though he didn't understand it, Adyson was smiling. And seeing that alone warmed his heart enough that he didn't care what was happening, just that it made her happy.

"By the way, Isabella," Adyson cut through her friends. "This is Christina. We live on the same street."

"And my girlfriend," Ginger interrupted, possessively pulling her into a hug.

"Nice to meet cha'," she said, shaking the girl's hand.

"Same here." The girls continued on until they heard the sound of the microphone. They all turned to see Cameron was up on stage, getting ready to play the keyboard. Behind him was another teen with a violin. He looked down at Adyson and flashed her a smile before his fingers touched the keys.

_Here in Cologne I know I said it wrong  
>I walked you to the train and back across alone<br>To my hotel room and ordered me some food  
>And now I'm wondering<br>Why the floor has suddenly become a moving target?_

Four, three, two, one  
>I'm letting you go<br>I will let go if you will let go  
>Four, three, two<p>

Says here an astronaut put on a pair of diapers  
>Drove eighteen hours to kill her boyfriend<br>And in my hotel room I'm wondering  
>If you read that story too and if we both might<br>Be having the same imaginary conversation

Four, three, two, one  
>I'm letting you go<br>I will let go if you will let go  
>Four, three, two<p>

Oh why weightless as I close my eyes?  
>Oh why the ceiling opens in disguise?<br>Such a painful trip to find out this is it  
>And as I go to sleep you'll be waking up<p>

Four, three, two, one  
>I'm letting you go<br>I will let go if you will let go

Oh why? Oh why?  
>Oh why? Oh why?<br>I said

He finished the song beautifully, and the crowd practically exploded in cheers. Many people had tears in their eyes and on their cheeks. No one could've given a better performance. Cameron stood up, bowed and walked offstage. Once he was through the crowd, he walked out the door. Adyson followed him with her eyes and saw that he finally looked at peace. He didn't look back at her once. As she turned back, her eyes met with Baljeet's. She didn't even know he was here tonight. With no clue what to do; he smiled at her before returning his gaze to Phineas. He didn't know that at that moment, her heart screamed for him to turn around again. She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw it belonged to Isabella. It was comforting and, more importantly, it told her all she needed to know.


	14. The Greatest Gift

The Greatest Gift

"Really?" Milly asked in her joyful surprise.

"Of course. Ethan's been complaining for a day off," Alpha replied as he worked on three different dishes at once. "Not to mention, I've been hired to cook Mayor Doofenshmirtz's annual Christmas party, so the restaurant will be closed on the twenty-fourth any way."

"That's great dad. Thanks so much," she squealed in delight as she gave him a bear hug. He returned it briefly before resuming his cooking. Since Alpha was handling all the orders at the moment and the current customers were the last of the lunch rush, she took the time to head upstairs to find her brother and boyfriend. Luckily, they were both in Buford's room.

"Hey Milly, what's up?" Buford asked while Ethan merely nodded his greeting.

"Dad said yes," she told them. Upon hearing that, Buford had his cell out and was sending a text.

"Done," he replied.

"Can I withdraw?" Ethan asked as he raised his hand.

"Of course you can't," Milly said with a caring voice and a warm smile.

"Dammit," he grumbled as he pulled himself up.

"Where ya goin'?" she asked him as he headed for the door.

"Smoke," he responded as he left.

"Him and Baljeet, I will never understand," Milly commented as she plopped down. "I mean, it's the middle of winter, yet he's willing to just stand out there for what, a lungful of smoke?"

"It gets 'em through the day." Buford told her. "So, what's on the menu?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could…"

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"You're late," Milly told the Indian boy standing outside her door, a frown on her lips and hands at her hips.

"Sorry. My dad was giving me a lecture," he apologized. Hearing this, Milly quickly stepped aside to let him in.

"What about?" she asked as she held out a hand for his coat.

"The usual. I just tuned him out until he said I was a disappointment and he let me leave," he explained. "Everyone already here?"

"Yep. Ginger and Christina were got here ten minutes ago. And they said they were going to be late," she told him, though making it clear she was just joking with him.

"Did they say how it went?" he asked as he sought them out. He saw them talking to Holly, Irving, Isabella, and Gretchen at the other side of the room. They were both wearing Christmas sweaters with the same pattern, but while Ginger's was red, Christina's was green.

"No, and don't think they want to say, though based on Ginger's face when she arrived, I can't imagine it went well," she replied. "But for now, let's forget that. Today is supposed to be fun," she told him. With those words in his head, she returned to the party. The gathering was of quite a few people from their school, maybe a hundred. There was a long table set up at one side with many different kinds of foods on it; all had the signs of being prepared by either Milly or Alpha. There was also music playing from speakers set up through the room, loud enough to always be heard, but quiet enough that they wouldn't interfere with talking to someone.

Baljeet had stopped to grab a bite to eat when he looked across the room and spotted the girl he had failed at confessing to a month ago. She was dressed in a crimson sweater and jeans, but he thought she looked perfect. She was talking to a guy who's back was to him, so he couldn't recognize who it was. Before Baljeet could stop himself, he was making his way over there.

"Hey," he greeted, disguising the malice in his voice.

"Evening," the boy greeted as he turned around. Baljeet realized then it was Zack. He suddenly felt very stupid for charging over.

"Nice to see you," Adyson told him.

"We were just talking about you actually," Zack told him.

"It was about the time you proved Taylor was cheating," Adyson quickly interjected. She quickly glared at Zack who simply smirked in response.

"Whatever happened to Taylor?" he asked.

"Well, I forced him to sell his computer to make up the rest of the money he owed. It was like watching a leprechaun part with his pot of gold," he answered with an evil smile. "When he tried to object, I explained to him what backrooming was in Vegas. He was much more eager to cooperate after that." Baljeet and Adyson were happy to hear that the cheater was getting some form of retribution. "Now, I'm going to go see how Buford is doing. Have fun you two," he told them suggestively as he walked off. The two teens were suddenly very self-conscious.

_Dammit Zack_ Adyson thought. He had come over while she was sitting alone to ask where her boyfriend was. She ended up spilling her guts and telling him everything that had happened, including the whole liking Baljeet but not yet telling him. _It's too soon_ she told herself.

"Is it wrong to wish Zack gave Taylor a free sample of 'backrooming?'" Baljeet asked her as he took the seat next to her.

"If it is, I don't want to be right," she replied with her own evil grin.

"Note to self: don't get on your bad side."

"Who's to say you're not already on it?" she asked, making both of them laugh. Meanwhile, Milly met up with Isabella and the other five she was with.

"How's our favorite idiot couple doing?" Holly asked her.

"Living up to their name," Milly replied. "It's been weeks since you guys made up," she said, turning to Isabella. "You'd think she'd've made a move by now."

"Perhaps we should allow them progress at a speed that suits them?" Gretchen suggested. Everyone else except Isabella immediately struggled to stifle their laughter.

"Their speed would be holding hands for the first time on their way to the nursing home," Christina explained.

"My way is faster," Milly explained. "Plus, it worked for all of you." All of them nodded in agreement to this.

"Is it going to be as big as last time? That didn't end so well," Ginger stated.

"We have a much better plan this time," Milly replied.

"I just realized something," Isabella started, drawing everyone's attention. "If you set them up, won't MEBRIS be retired? Everyone will be in a relationship."

"Probably. Buford also wants to stop after this and we've been dragging Ethan along every time," she explained. "So this is our last huzzah."

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Well, I hope it works out," Phineas told the bedridden Buford. Ferb nodded in agreement. The three looked down at their respective hands before placing their chips in the pot. When they were done, each revealed what they had. Phineas had a two pair, Ferb had a three of a kind, but Buford beat them both with his straight. He pulled the chips in with some minor difficulty, a smile on his face.

"I can't see why it wouldn't. Adyson admitted to liking him, so this should all work out, shouldn't it?" he asked. Ferb didn't speak as he shuffled, but it was obvious he agreed. Just before he could deal out the next, the door opened to reveal the three girlfriends of the occupants. When Isabella and Gretchen saw the cards and chips, their anger swelled. The third girl had a different reaction.

"Why didn't you guys tell me you were playing?" Milly asked as she walked over to them. "Deal me in, Ferb."

"Aren't you mad?" Isabella asked her, preparing to scream at her boyfriend for lying to her.

"Not really. It's not like the chips have any value behind them. They're just part of a set Ethan got for his birthday a couple years ago," she explained. "Ever since the Taylor incident, they haven't played for cash once."

"Really?" Isabella asked, eyeing her boyfriend suspiciously.

"Of course," he replied, sounding scared but honest. That satisfied Isabella as her expression softened.

"Then teach me," she told him, plopping down next to him.

"I know the rules, but I have never participated in a game. Could I also observe?" Gretchen asked. Ferb patted the spot next to him while looking up at her. She took the spot, allowing the game to resume. Downstairs, the other couples were also spending their time together. Katie and Django flirted in a booth out of the way while Christina, Ginger, Holly and Irving continued talking with each other. Ethan watched everyone from the back of the room, no one noticing him. His main focus was on Baljeet and Adyson, still interacting with only each other.

"I'm going to go grab some food. You want any?" Baljeet asked as he stood up.

"I'm good," she told him. As he walked over to the buffet table, he didn't notice a girl approaching Adyson.

"Adyson," she said, taking the girl's attention away from Baljeet's back. It was Amelia Winters, a senior from her AP Calc class. If what Baljeet told her was true, she was going to be the valedictorian.

"Hey," she greeted. She had never spoken to her before, so she was off guard.

"I want to ask you something," she told her. "Are you and Baljeet dating?"

"What?" she asked in surprise. "No. Of course we're not," she explained. Amelia smiled when she heard this.

"Good. It would be a shame if he was taken," she told her before walking away. Adyson was flabbergasted. There were other girls that like Baljeet. Adyson suddenly felt very self-conscious. Amelia was very mature in both attitude and looks while she still acted like a kid. Her well-kept hair framing her face with the thin wire rimmed glasses she wore made her look like she was already working a corporate job. Even today, Adyson still wore the same ponytail with the same hair covering her right eye. _But I have the advantage_ she thought. Baljeet had already confessed to her, so-

_I don't _she suddenly realized. She had been planning to remain just his friend until he asked her out, but now she realized that he wouldn't ask her out again. Also, since she rejected him, there was a good chance his feelings for her would fade and be replaced with feelings for someone else. Her heart rate skyrocketed when she thought of that. She couldn't bear to lose him, not after they had come this far. She knew she only had one option now.

"Adyson, are you okay?" Baljeet asked the girl, a plate carrying various foods in his hands. She looked at him and her resolve solidified. She would end this night either rejected or his girlfriend.

"Wanna go for a drive? This place is getting crowded," she told him as she stood up.

"Sure," he replied, abandoning his plate on a nearby table. "Your car or mine?"

"I came in Ginger's with her Christina, so yours," she answered. The two walked to where the coats were stored and, after retrieving their apparel, left for his car. Neither noticed Ethan's hawk like stare. Once they were in the car, the drove into the night of Christmas Eve, only Adyson knowing where they were headed.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Where are they?" Milly asked as she frantically searched the restaurant. The others were helping, but Baljeet and Adyson were nowhere to be found.

"We've looked everywhere," Katie groaned.

"I have no clue where they could be," Christina told her.

"This can't happen. We can't set them up like this," Milly said. "They've gotta be somewhere."

"Looking for someone?" Ethan asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. The girls almost jumped when they heard his voice.

"We can't find Baljeet or Adyson," Katie, the first to recover, explained.

"They left together a little while ago," Ethan explained. The secondary shock practically gave the girls heart attacks. Milly recovered first this time.

"Why?" was all she was able to say.

"A friend of mine helped," he replied. "You're not the only one with plans."

"Now what?" Christina asked. Milly seemed to have lost consciousness while still standing.

"We wait. We'll find out what happened eventually," he finished. With those as his parting words, he walked back to his perch, silently wishing Baljeet earned the happiness he deserved.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"You wanted to come here?" Baljeet asked as he stepped out of his car. Adyson had already moved partway down the hill they were at. Baljeet knew this place well. He always came here when he needed peace. It was also where the two of them had met up again those several months ago.

"Yeah, I thought it would be a nice place to relax," she explained. The thin layer of snow they had now prevented of them from sitting, but made the scene beautiful, even when the only source of light was a nearby streetlight. "'There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find ways in which you yourself have altered,'" she said peacefully.

"Interesting quote. Who said it?" Baljeet asked as he reached her side.

"Nelson Mandela," she replied, a bit prideful.

"You've read Nelson Mandela's work?" Baljeet asked, somewhat skeptical.

"I saw that movie about him a couple years ago. I got really interested in his story, so I read his works," she explained, hurt he would doubt her choice in reading.

"So, how have you changed?" he asked her. "After all, that's why you wanted to come here, isn't it?"

"Yep," she answered with a smile. Before she could speak again, Baljeet started again.

"Wait. Before you say anything, I want you to have this," he practically mumbled, barely audible to Adyson. He reached into his pocket and drew out a small box wrapped in a silver ribbon. Adyson took it with shaking hands, her mind going blank. She gently undid the bow and opened it. Inside was a bracelet; a silver chain with red stones set at even intervals. Adyson had never been a fan of jewelry before, but she thought this was beautiful.

"Can you help me put it on?" she asked, handing it to him as she removed her right glove and extended her hand towards him. Very carefully, he placed the item on her wrist and snapped the latch shut. Adyson held up her hand, admiring the item. Then she lowered her hand. Instead of having it rest at her side, she reached for Baljeet's. She took it in hers and squeezed, preparing every word she wanted to tell him.

"How I've changed," she started, her voice filled with memories. "I've regained friends I thought I lost, I'm smarter than I was before, and I'm happier than I've ever been. But most of all," she closed her eyes briefly before continuing, "I fell for someone. I fell for someone handsome, brilliant, hard-working, and caring." Neither moved as the words created the atmosphere around them. "I fell for you."

"Adyson," Baljeet breathed. "I…I," he stuttered, desperate to respond. "And I fell for you," he finally said, though his voice shook with every word. Adyson couldn't contain her joy for a moment longer. She released his hand and jumped at him, arms wrapping around his neck. They hit the ground, but neither cared. Adyson didn't waste a second planting her lips on his, giving her first kiss to Baljeet. After what wasn't nearly long enough, she pulled back for air. Baljeet's hands were on her back, keeping her from moving to far away. Of course, she had no where she'd rather be.

"Adyson, will you go out with me?" he asked, merely as a formality after what had just happened.

"Baljeet, I can go out with you," she answered before giving him another kiss. They remained that way until the cold began seeming into them, mostly Baljeet. When he pulled himself up, he found his hand immediately taken by Adyson's. Happier than he knew he could be, Baljeet walked back up the hill, hand in hand with his girlfriend.


End file.
